Enter Oblivion
by Vinsecula
Summary: KH prequel, set during- and slightly before- the fall of the Hollow Bastion.:: FINISHED :: The final battle... and the epilogue.
1. Prologue: He

**Disclaimer ** We all know this. All names, places, etc. are copyright by their respective owners, and I own nothing. Final Fantasy characters belong to SquareEnix, Disney characters belong to (surprise!) Disney. You can't sue me, so don't even bother trying. All quotes, marked or not, belong to the original person who said them.  
**Forward** Yes. This is a prequel to Kingdom Hearts, set in the Hollow Bastion, 10-9 years before the game begins, between Ansem reports three and four. How many times has this been done? I'm not sure. I'm not sure what even inspired me to start writing this. The only thing you should know, is that it starts slow, but it gets better, I promise! I hope you enjoy reading this, as much as I enjoyed writing it. So, without further ado, here is Enter Oblivion.  
  
**_Part I: As Light Fades_**

**Prologue: He  
**  
_"Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring desolation. Seize all hearts and consummate the great heart. All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all. Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts. The great darkness sealed within the great heart. Progeny of darkness, come back to the eternal darkness. For the heart of light shall unseal the path. Seven hearts, one Keyhole, one key to the door. The door of darkness tied by two keys. The door of darkness to seal the light. None shall pass but shadows, returning to the darkness. __Ones born of the heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens."  
**-Kingdom Hearts, End of the World Computer**_

Aerith had lived in the grand castle all her life. She knew almost everybody, being very popular within the fortress, and only at the tender age of fifteen. She knew everyone, even the king, Ansem, who knew her on a first-name basis.  
  
There was someone, though, whom she feared for her life for. Why though? What was it about him? Aerith could feel evil haunting him like a corpse, an unholy specter. He was shrouded in mystery, and it scared her.  
  
His name was deceiving. It made one think he was a "shiny happy person", and though he was mysterious, most thought him to be harmless. All except for Aerith. Perhaps it was his name that made her suspicious. As mentioned before she didn't know. His name... how it inspired a foreboding feeling of despair and pain into her heart...  
  
_Cloud..._


	2. Chapter I: Dark Clouds on the Horizon

Chapter I: Dark Clouds on the Horizon  
  
"Every cloud has a silver lining."  
  
***~~~***  
  
They had known each other all their lives. The four were inseparable, almost from birth. They had been friends ever since they could walk and talk, and were always seen around the library. Squall, Yuffie, Sephiroth, and Aerith. They weren't really a gang, and didn't really have a name, but everyone knew of them- they were children with renowned parents, loved by all... or not.  
  
Aerith Gast, was taking the many lifts, down to the Rising Falls, where Sephiroth said he'd meet her. Aerith liked Sephiroth a lot, and wanted to maybe start a relationship, but, he never really shared the same feelings...  
  
Aerith gracefully walked to the Rising Falls courtyard, which was empty, except for Sephiroth, who had his back turned to her. He was wearing his usual black pants, and white shirt, but the thing that perhaps attracted Aerith most to Sephiroth, was his mysterious wing. It was a black, yet angelic wing that was on the right side of his back. He had his unusually long sword, what he called the Masamune, sheathed at his left side, which kind of made Aerith nervous, and still made her feel secure around him. At the sound of Aerith's footsteps, Sephiroth turned.  
  
"Hey," he greeted, in his- what Aerith thought- melodious voice. "I'm glad you came."  
  
"You didn't think I would?" asked Aerith, cocking her head to one side. Sephiroth shrugged.  
  
"I dunno. . . I. . . I have something important to talk to you about." He said, turning his back once more. Aerith's heart leapt.  
  
"What is it?" she asked, not able to hide the anticipation in her voice.  
  
"I-I want to date Yuffie." Said Sephiroth, turning to face Aerith, yet again. At those words, Aerith's world crushed around her. She was no longer at the Rising Falls, but sinking into the eternal abyss below... "I wanted your consent. Y'know, she is your best friend and all. . ." There was a very long pause. "Well?"  
  
"What?" asked Aerith, trying to keep her tears from tearing their way out.  
  
"Have your consent?" asked Sephiroth, his voice full of hope. Aerith couldn't do it. She couldn't say no, and pour out her feelings. . . She eked out a great deal of self-loathing at two words.  
  
"Of course!" she said, pumping false happiness into her voice. Of course she didn't mean it. She didn't hate Yuffie now, and didn't want to distance herself from her, to make her suspicious, but. . . there was no time to think about it.  
  
Something happened. . . three or four small creatures, all jet black, with glowing yellow eyes, and wriggling antennae jumped up into the courtyard from the water!  
  
"Seph!" yelled Aerith, panicked.  
  
"Stay back Aerith!" Sephiroth drew the Masamune, and quickly disposed of the small creatures. But that wasn't all. A boy, around Aerith's age came up from the dark depths below. He held a large sword, and was clothed in all black. He had a demonic wing, almost like Sephiroth's, only it was bat- like, and had spiky blond hair. He looked to Aerith, then to Sephiroth, and raised his sword.  
  
Sephiroth tried to block the oncoming attack, and tried as hard as he could.  
  
"Who ARE you!?" demanded Sephiroth, struggling to fight off the boy.  
  
"Get out of here! You! You are the source of the Heartless!" yelled the boy.  
  
"What?!" asked Aerith, confused. "Heartless" was what King Ansem had called the monsters that were now nesting at the base of the Hollow Bastion, the ones that had tried to attack them. The two continued to fight, swords clashing together, until the boy had knocked Sephiroth onto his back. When he was about to impale the fallen Sephiroth, Aerith dove into his way. The boy stopped.  
  
He looked into her eyes, and slowly put his sword down, then dropped it completely. Aerith was far from enchanted by him, though. She feared him. He had tried to kill Sephiroth! Though she had mixed feelings about Sephiroth right now, she couldn't let him die.  
  
"Who are you?" demanded Aerith.  
  
"My name. . . My name is Cloud. . . Cloud Strife." He replied. His name. . . It seemed familiar. . . like she should fear him, yet somehow feel comfort in him. . . But right now, she was leaning towards the former.  
  
"What do you want?" she demanded again. Sephiroth slowly came to his feet, using the Masamune for support.  
  
"The Heartless are everywhere. . . They must be stopped. This world is in danger!" Cloud said. "And he is the cause of it!" Cloud was pointing at Sephiroth.  
  
"What? Me? What did I do?!" he asked, shocked. Cloud scoffed.  
  
"It's written! 'In the Hollow Bastion, the One With Silver Hair shall start it all. He is the source of the Heartless. He will plunge the world into darkness.' It's taken from the Tomes of Mava. Look for yourself," suggested Cloud.  
  
"Tomes of Mava? Where did you come from? What does this mean?!" Sephiroth asked, confused.  
  
"The Tomes of Mava should be in that castle's library." Said Cloud, pointing to the Hollow Bastion. "As for me. . . Where I came from is not important. I'm here now, and I plan on staying. If you're not the Seeker of Darkness, then there must be someone else, with silver hair that will bring destruction to this realm." It hit Aerith. Could it be. . .?  
  
"King Ansem. . .?" said Aerith to herself.  
  
"What?! The king?! No way!" replied Sephiroth incredulously.  
  
"Tell me about this king." Ordered Cloud, picking up his sword. Aerith didn't like this person. He seemed. . . she shuddered.  
  
"Ansem is the king of the Hollow Bastion. He's a brilliant leader, and extremely smart. Though, he couldn't bring chaos to this world! He loves the Hollow Bastion, and everyone here!" explained Aerith. Cloud laughed, mirthlessly.  
  
"See that's the thing about darkness. . . Once you seek it, it takes you. . . and you'll never escape. It grows, consumes. Such is its nature. There is darkness in all hearts. Even yours." Cloud explained. Aerith thought she saw Sephiroth shiver, but shrugged it off.  
  
"Why are you here?" Aerith asked.  
  
"I must stop it. And I will, one way, or another. I'll do it if I have to kill everyone in this castle." Said Cloud, coldly. "Take me to see this Ansem."  
  
"Well, nobody can see him now. He's busy a lot lately. He's doing research on hearts and Heartless lately, and is rarely seen." replied Sephiroth. Cloud shot him a glare that told him not to talk.  
  
"Fine. I'll wait. . . But if I wait too long, then this world will be consumed! It already has been connected. . ." said Cloud, thoughtfully. "SHE could arrive at any time..."  
  
"Why. . . Why don't we go back to the castle, and um, talk about all of this. . .?" asked Sephiroth cautiously. Cloud squinted his eyes at Sephiroth, then nodded in reluctant agreement.  
  
"Let's go." ordered Cloud. The three took the many platforms back to the castle. Aerith was confused about everything that happened recently, but couldn't shake the feeling of her heart slowly began to break. 


	3. Chapter II: Squall Hostility

Chapter II: Squall- Hostility  
  
"Squall is something of an enigma in the Bastion. Don't get me wrong, the kid more or less wears his emotions on his sleeve, but his lineage is what makes him so infamous. His mother murdered, his father is unknown to him- he thinks that he died with his mother and Laguna adopted he and Ellone...  
Poor guy... He is so oblivious..."  
-From the journal of Sid Kramer  
  
***~~~***  
  
"So, who's this new guy?" asked Squall.  
  
"Some homicidal maniac." Replied Aerith, quite bluntly.  
  
"I dunno. . . He seemed quite calm and collected to me. And his name... It sounds too... I dunno, happy," replied Squall, leaning against the wall of the waterway. Aerith shook her head.  
  
"He tried to kill Seph and I. . ." explained Aerith, scuffing her shoe on the floor.  
  
"She's right! Seph told me all about it!" Yuffie piped in. "He came out of nowhere with a really big sword."  
  
"Are you all talking about that loser?" came a loud voice behind them. The three turned to face Rufus, Seifer, Lulu, Fujin, and The Voice belonged to Rufus, leader of his own little gaggle of friends- destructive, damnable delinquents who each had one vendetta or another against Aerith and her friends.  
  
Seifer gave Squall a cold glare, grinned, held out his hand, and beckoned to Squall, drawing his gunblade, the Hyperion. Squall replied with an icy stare.  
  
"C'mon, Leonhart. Let's go! You and me! You, the villain, and I, the sorceress' knight!" As he said this, Seifer threw a cocky grin to Lulu, who smiled back at him.  
  
"I'll pass." Squall replied, crossing his arms and looking down at his boots. Seifer scoffed, disappointed, his head hung for a split second, until it lifted, an evil grin plastered on his face.  
  
"Than I suppose you don't mind that your girlfriend left you because you never stuck up for her. You were never her 'knight'. She went to someone who could always protect her. Ain't that right, Yuff?"  
  
Yuffie turned a deep crimson, but didn't say anything, and Squall's eyes opened and widened, as if he couldn't believe what Seifer just said. Aerith knew that Seifer struck a nerve, deep within Squall's mind. Squall had been teased for his pacifistic ways of thinking, but never insulted, nor challenged.  
  
In a blind rage, Squall drew his gunblade (which was usually reversed) and charged at Seifer. The others cleared out of his way as he and Seifer fought.  
  
***~~~***  
  
The two's battle raged on and on. For a pacifist, Squall fought amazingly well, almost flying through the air, his battling a fierce waltz. Seifer kept up with him, the two slashing incessantly, the firings of their guns echoing amongst the abandoned waterway.  
  
It wasn't until a gunshot echoed through the tunnels of the sewer did the two freeze. Laguna Loire stood, dueling pistol pointed at the ceiling, his look stern, not at all like his usually laid-back goofiness.  
  
"What exactly's wrong?" he asked, the sternness unwavering.  
  
Seifer jumped away from Squall, and swiped his gunblade in a horizontal motion, then shrugged.  
  
"Nothing... nothing at all..." Seifer drawled. Squall shamefully sheathed his gunblade.  
  
"Nothing's wrong, Laguna, just go home." Squall half-ordered half-pleaded. Laguna stayed, and Squall said, quite bitterly, "Fine. I'll go."  
  
Squall walked away from everyone, throwing a nasty glare to Laguna on his way out. Laguna looked at them all sternly, and nobody said anything. After a few more moments of silence, Laguna holstered his pistol and followed Squall.  
  
When Seifer was sure Laguna and Squall were out of earshot, he talked with his friends about Squall, and the fight.  
  
"He was a pitiful fighter. I made sure to hold back, as to not hurt him."  
  
"You fought wonderfully, Seifer." Lulu said wistfully.  
  
"And Squall. . . What a moron." Rufus jeered.  
  
"FOOL." Fujin agreed. Yuffie, who'd been turning pink since Seifer spoke, finally grabbed her large shuriken from her back and charged at Fujin. Fujin, with lightning quick reflexes, drew her own shuriken and the two stars collided. Yuffie, although fueled by anger, was no match for Fujin's immense strength. Yuffie was thrown backward into the waterway wall. Rufus and his gang left the waterway, leaving Yuffie and Aerith alone.  
  
Yuffie gave Aerith an 'I want to be alone' look, so Aerith left. Yuffie thought back to two years ago, when she and Squall were still dating... Fujin and Lulu were picking on her, and Squall just stood, and watched. He didn't fight for her. After that, Yuffie broke ties with Squall... Tired of fretting on the past, Yuffie left the waterways.  
  
***~~~***  
  
"Hey, Squall, wait up!" Laguna yelled after Squall, who was not in the mood to talk to Laguna. Squall pretended he didn't hear Laguna and continued walking. Laguna started to run, and caught up with Squall, a leg cramp being the price.  
  
"Errgh, ow!" Laguna muttered, grabbing his leg, and catching his breath. Squall stopped, exasperated, and still not wanting to talk to Laguna.  
  
"What do you want?" Squall asked sharply.  
  
"Why were you fighting Seifer?"  
  
"None of-"  
  
"-my business?" Laguna finished faintly, cutting Squall off. "C'mon Squall!"  
  
"Leave me alone," Squall ordered.  
  
"No," Laguna refused.  
  
"Fine." Squall ran away, leaving Laguna in the waterway. Laguna smiled.  
  
"He looks so much like his mother. . . Acts a lot like her too. . . Heh, good thing he takes after his mother and not his father. . ."  
  
***~~~***  
  
A stone stood in the farthest corner of the world, in a solitary meadow. The stone read:  
  
RAINE LEONHART-LOIRE  
Devoted Mother  
Beloved Wife  
"May she ascend to Heaven with the courage and pride of a lion." 


	4. Chapter III: Fun For the Whole Family

Author's Notes: Say wha-? Notes? Yes, notes. Now, I know Aerith's name is Aerith Gainesborough, yada yada yada, but no, nay! Nay I say! My fanfic, my rules. And I know I spelled Cid Kramer's name with an "S" but for good reason- there's already Cid Highwind, and I felt that Edea still needed a husband, so ha. I gave Professor Gast a first name, Remus- a name I always thought sounds intelligent. So, I'm sort of still obeying some brand of rules or another. Alright, onward!  
  
Chapter III: Family Values  
  
[i]"It's truly a shame. This generation of kids has completely abandoned  
the idea of a family sitting down and eating dinner together. They go gallivanting off with their friends and leave their poor families to tend for themselves. When I was a child, I sat with my family, ate my food, and was happy for it. One can only hope that this generation is just a fluke,  
and kids will learn family values."  
-From the journal of Queen Lace, third monarch of the Hollow Bastion  
  
***~~~***  
  
Who was the father of Sephiroth? Hojo? Vincent?  
  
That's the thing- nobody knew. It wasn't that Sephiroth's mother was a slut- no, it was just that both claimed to be the boy's father. Lucrecia Valentine died after being killed by Hojo- without telling anybody who the father was. Hojo claimed to have mixed his genes with that of Lord Ansem's and implanted the embryo in Lucrecia's womb. . . But Vincent would never believe that lie. He loved Lucrecia with all of his heart, mind, and being. And he knew she would never volunteer for such an audacious experiment.  
  
It was around then, fifteen years ago, when the first Heartless rose up from the abyssal bottoms of the castle, below the labyrinthine waterways. Hojo and Ansem worked and experimented on it. Hojo had taken genes from the Heartless and injected them into the baby Sephiroth, which sprouted his one wing, the wing that siphoned all of the black from his hair.  
  
The castle had gone to investigate odd sounds from the lab, but Hojo had injected Heartless DNA into himself, transforming him into a great monster, the Behemoth. Hojo as the Behemoth, destroyed much of the castle, and killed many people. Remus Gast, Raine Leonhart-Loire, and Lucrecia to name a few. Queen Sorceress Dalaar, Ansem's sister, then banished Hojo to some unknown place of darkness.  
  
Afterwards, Vincent then raised Sephiroth alone.  
  
***~~~***  
  
"Father, I'm home!" Sephiroth's voice- almost as harmonious as his mother's- called from the front door of their small home. Vincent was cleaning his collection of dueling pistols, the pistols used to protect the Lord Ansem.  
  
"In my room. Did you have fun with your gang?" Vincent asked, putting a cleaned pistol back together.  
  
"Wasn't with them. I went to the library. . . did some research on things. Although, while I was in the library, I heard Squall got into another fight with Seifer." Vincent rolled his eyes.  
  
"Squall, the pacifist, and Seifer the antagonist, I presume?" Vincent asked.  
  
"As usual. Laguna stopped the fight."  
  
"So, he's useful for something, Praise be to Yevon," Vincent said without thinking.  
  
"Say what?" Sephiroth asked, confused.  
  
"You spent the whole day in the library, and didn't even find out who Yevon is? Old Hollow Bastonian mythology. They once thought a god named 'Yevon' built the Hollow Bastion." Vincent explained, still cleaning a rather large rifle. Sephiroth scoffed.  
  
"That's ridiculous. Lord Velsco proved that the Hollow Bastion was built by Lord Nomura and his council, The Staff of Squaresoft." Sephiroth countered.  
  
"So at least you learned one thing today."  
  
"That's more common sense than anything."  
  
"What DID you learn?" Vincent asked.  
  
"Not a whole lot. . . I half thought about going to the Depths of the Bastion." Sephiroth admitted thoughtfully. Vincent dropped the gun he was cleaning.  
  
"What?" Vincent asked shortly.  
  
"Oh! Erm, I meant to the waterways to join the others!" Vincent was not convinced.  
  
"I've told you thousands of times, that the Depths are forbidden, not only by Lord Ansem's laws, but more importantly, by me!" Vincent raised his voice only a little.  
  
"I know, I know, that's why I went to the library instead!" At that time, the bell in the Bastion's chapel rang, signaling dinner time in the Dining Hall.  
  
"All right. Let's just go eat. I'm so hungry I could eat a whole chocobo." Sephiroth gave Vincent a look of disgust and horror, then sighed and shrugged.  
  
"Alrighty." And the two set off for dinner.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Things at the home of Yuffie were not as happy. Yuffie lived with her father and grandfather (Godo and Gala, respectively) and she fought with her father constantly. Her grandfather always stuck up for her, though.  
  
With both father and grandfather constantly training her to be the successor of the Line of Wutai, Yuffie hardly had any time to her friends. But she made time. Dinner for example.  
  
Tonight, she wanted to look nice for Sephiroth. At thirteen, she thought she should be worried about boys, her looks, and the latest gossip within the HB, but she couldn't.  
  
"Yuffie, you are the heir to an infinite line of ninjas. You've not the time to be worried about such things." Her father would always say.  
  
But then her mother would always cut in and say "She is but a child, Godo. She is a child, before a ninja." That was before her mother had died of pneumonia, and her grandfather moved in.  
  
Her grandfather took the defensive stance for her, in the place of her mother. But her father never stopped to remind her of her heritage. Speaking of which. . .  
  
"Yuffie! What ARE you doing?!" her father screeched. Yuffie, with her hair tied up in a bun, which was erupting with locks of blue hair, looked to her father innocently.  
  
"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked, perfectly aware of what he meant.  
  
"You are ninja. Yet here you are prettying up with makeup, worried about boy who can't love!" Godo always had a strange way of speaking, and it was only accentuated when he was angry.  
  
"Father! Please!" It was not a request, but an order.  
  
"Yuffie! You dare talk-back to father this way?!"  
  
"Godo!" Grandfather had interjected. "That is enough! Yuffie is girl. Not boy. You must learn she is different. She not like you nor I."  
  
"Father! Keep out! Yuffie is MY daughter, not yours! And-"Godo was interrupted by chapel bell, calling everyone to the Dining Hall. "Ooh! Dinner!" Godo ran out of Yuffie's room, out of the house, towards the Dining Hall. Godo did enjoy his rice. . . Gala gave Yuffie a proud smile, and the two went to go eat.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Aerith Gast was an orphan. Her mother, Ifalna, died shortly after giving birth to Aerith. She caught pneumonia while recovering from giving birth, and died only two weeks after Aerith was born. Her father, Remus Gast, was killed a few months before Aerith was born. The Behemoth that Hojo became had impaled him with his horn, during his rampage.  
  
So Edea and Sid Kramer took her in. They had adopted many children over the past few years. The kids in the orphanage were Aerith, Seifer, Lulu, Rufus, Fujin, and Zack.  
  
Aerith and Zack had dated briefly before, but the relationship ended when Aerith discovered her feelings for Sephiroth. Though broken up, the two remained friends, and Zack defended Aerith against Seifer and the rest. Aerith loved Edea and Sid dearly, but she wished she'd known her mother, or father. But she knew they were happy, wherever they may be.  
  
Aerith was combing her long brown hair when a knock came at her door.  
  
"Aerith? Are you in there?" It was Edea.  
  
"Yes, Matron."  
  
"The dinner bell rang a few minutes ago, are you ready to go?"  
  
"Yeah, just give me a second."  
  
"All right, we'll be on our way."  
  
Aerith wanted just a few more minutes. . . She gingerly picked up a framed picture of Seph and her in the library. Getting teary eyed, she opened up the back, took the picture out, and dropped it in her wastebasket. Using a tissue, she dabbed her eyes, then walked out of the orphanage, catching up with Matron and the others.  
  
***~~~***  
  
A knock came at Squall's door. "Who is it?" he called.  
  
"It's me." Sis's voice.  
  
"Come in." Ellone. . . Sis walked in, dressed in her white and blue gown, and her short green cape was draped around her shoulders. Using her left hand, she tucked her hair behind her ear, and crossed her arms. "This isn't about Seifer, is it?"  
  
"It is." She replied crossly. "What exactly happened?"  
  
"I already explained it to Laguna," Squall replied shortly.  
  
"All right, now explain it to me."  
  
"Seifer challenged me. Real formal, and all." Squall hated lying to Sis, but. . .  
  
"All right. . . Couldn't you have turned him down?" Ellone asked.  
  
"I couldn't have just walked away. . ."  
  
"Isn't that what you usually do?" Squall didn't answer. "You wanna be cool, huh? Just don't get hurt in the process. And don't hurt anybody else. But, you know, if I can't control you, then I won't be seen fit to raise you."  
  
"All right. I promise- no more fighting. It's just that. . . You know how Seifer is. . ."  
  
"Yeah. . . I suppose he claimed he was 'the sorceress' knight'? Who's the lucky gal this year?" Squall couldn't help but to grin.  
  
"Lulu."  
  
"O-oh. . . I see. . . So I guess the Sorceress' Knight is taking it up a notch- being a knight for an actual sorceress. . ." Again Squall grinned.  
  
"Yeah. . . Sorceress Lulu. . . Hmmm. . ." Both were in silence.  
  
It was about five years ago. Lulu was eleven, Ellone was fourteen. Sorceress Adel was looking for a successor, and wanted Ellone. Lulu became jealous, as she was Adel's daughter, and tried to cast a spell on Adel, but it backfired. Adel went mad with power, and tried to destroy the Hollow Bastion. She was incredibly powerful, even killing Queen Sorceress Dalaar, orphaning the infant Princess Kairi. She was so powerful, that she couldn't be killed.  
  
It was Laguna who came up with a plan to seal her in the Depths of the Hollow Bastion, thereby ending his prison sentence of attempted murder on Queen Sorceress Dalaar. Doctor Odine made the device, and something to steal her powers with, just in case. Adel came into contact with the brooch that Odine made, killing Odine in the process, and Laguna was able to imprison her within the seal. Lulu stole the brooch, and released the powers, thereby inheriting them.  
  
As the two were reflecting upon this, the chapel bell broke their silence, and the two set off for the Dining Hall, neither saying a word. It wasn't an awkward silence, but, rather, a mutual quietness. 


	5. Chapter IV: Seeds of Obsession

Chapter IV: Seeds of Obsession  
  
"The more things become different, the more things stay the same."  
  
***~~~***  
  
Dinner started out like it always did- the people were served the dinners they ordered that morning, and that night, it was served to them. Godo had ordered rice, Edea lobster, Ellone pasta, and so on.  
  
The four sat together, as always, and they were talking about the day's events, among other things. But the next thing that happened would really give them something to talk about.  
  
A creature, the size of a small box appeared in the Dining Hall. It looked much like the boy, Vivi Oruntina, but it floated, wore purple robes, purple pointed hat, and carried a small staff.  
  
Reactions occurred everywhere. Anybody who had a weapon drew it and used it. Vincent Valentine and Laguna Loire both shot their pistols, Yuffie throwing one of her smaller shurikens, Edea and Lulu began preparing spells, but the first one to reach the creature was him.  
  
Cloud Strife burst through the Dining Hall doors, sword pointed forward. He stopped for a second, and shot forward with breakneck speed. He impaled the creature, which dissipated into a cloud of black smoke, with a glowing heart rising from the smoke and vanished.  
  
Lord Ansem rose from his meal, and jumped down from his table, set upon a dais, and ran to Cloud. The two spoke just below a whisper, nobody could hear them. Cloud was giving Lord Ansem an angry stare the whole conversation. After a few more minutes, the entire Dining Hall watching them, Ansem beckoned to Sephiroth.  
  
Sephiroth pointed at his chest, and mouthed "Me?" and Ansem nodded. Then Ansem, Cloud and Sephiroth all walked out of the Dining Hall.  
  
Then all began to clamor, and eat, some interested, some not, some kind of shaky, and some skeptic.  
  
"Where did they take Seph?!" Yuffie asked, her voice thick with concern. "Who was that guy that killed that. . . thing?" Both good questions.  
  
"That. . . was Cloud." Aerith replied. 'For a homicidal maniac, he is kind of-' Squall interrupted her thoughts.  
  
"Cloud. The guy that tried to kill you today?" Aerith nodded tiredly.  
  
"He should've stayed and eaten dinner with us!" Yuffie exclaimed, somewhat disappointed. Aerith shot her a nasty glare and Yuffie turned red. "Well, I didn't mean it if he was gonna try to kill you again. . . Then his invitation would've been rescinded immediately!"  
  
"One should hope," Aerith replied dryly.  
  
"I don't like this. . . There's something. . . unnerving about this Cloud. . ." Squall said slowly, carefully choosing his words.  
  
"I agree wholeheartedly." Aerith agreed. "I don't like him."  
  
"Um, guys? Shouldn't we follow them? I mean, if we don't trust that Cloud guy?" Yuffie asked, curious and concerned.  
  
"You're right! Ugh, why didn't I think of this?!" At her words, Aerith stood, and ran out of the Dining Hall. Yuffie stood, and started to follow Aerith, but stopped and turned to face Squall.  
  
"Aren't you coming?!" Squall shut his eyes in response.  
  
"I think. . . I'll pass."  
  
"C'mon Brood Master! We don't have time for this crap!" Yuffie ran back and grabbed Squall by the arm, and dragged him along. "Who knows what Cloud might be doing to Seph and the king!"  
  
***~~~***  
  
"Interesting. . . interesting indeed. So you've lived in the heart of this world your entire life. . . What was it like in there? Were you raised by the Heartless? And can you tell me anymore about them?!" Ansem was frantic- one might say obsessed- about his pursuit of knowledge.  
  
"I learned one important thing- the silver-haired one shall bring chaos and ruin to this world. . . I believe you two are the only silver-haired ones in this castle?" Cloud looked from Ansem to Sephiroth, from Sephiroth to Ansem and back. Then Ansem and Sephiroth exchanged glances and looked back to Cloud.  
  
"Did you learn anything else?" Sephiroth asked curiously.  
  
"I also learned that. . . he and I are 'connected' somehow. . ."  
  
"Connected?" Ansem and Sephiroth questioned simultaneously. "Yes. . . Many here are 'connected' somehow. I could feel them all while I was in the feeding area. . . So many people. . . Are there, perhaps, other worlds where we are all separated, but connected at the same time? Unaware of this life, dealing with other trials and tribulations of our own? And something strange, Ansem-"Sephiroth corrected him here, with a quiet 'King Ansem'- "you are not connected to anybody. . . Except for that child at your table. . ."  
  
"Lady Kairi?" Sephiroth asked.  
  
"Lady Kairi is my niece, Mister Cloud," Ansem confirmed. "She is the daughter of my deceased sister, Queen Sorceress Dalaar."  
  
"Ah. . . Blood ties are some of the strongest. . . Most of the time. . . If one never- let's say- becomes too curious of the unknown. . ."  
  
"Are you challenging me, Mister Cloud? I'm warning you, the consequences could become drastic for one side," Ansem warned. Cloud looked upward to the ceiling of Ansem's laboratory, as if thinking, then walked out of the room without a word.  
  
"What do you make of it, sire?" Sephiroth asked.  
  
"I do not know. But I do know one thing- this boy knows much. I need a favor of you Sephiroth." Ansem requested.  
  
"Yes, m'liege?"  
  
"Go to my library. Find any books on separate worlds, darkness, and/or the Heartless. We have work to do."  
  
"What sort of work?"  
  
"Well, if either of us is going to destroy this world, I want to know which one of us. In the meantime, speak nothing of this to anybody. I must even exclude it from my report, should it fall into the wrong hands," Ansem explained quietly. Sephiroth hesitated for a moment, then nodded.  
  
"All right, all right. I'll do it. Won't my friends and father get suspicious if I'm constantly in the library?"  
  
"These are matters that could effect everyone in the Hollow Bastion, and you're worried about the trivial matters?!" For a moment Sephiroth thought Ansem's eyes changed color, from their deep blue, to sickly yellow orbs. . . just for a moment. . .  
  
"Sorry, Your Majesty. You're right. I'll be in the library all night. If I find anything interesting, I'll report back."  
  
"Excellent." Sephiroth bowed and headed for the door. "And, Sephiroth?"  
  
"Yes, sire?"  
  
"Tell your father I'm still up for that rematch at cards. . . if he's not afraid."  
  
"Will do." As the door to Ansem's lab closed, Ansem's eyes did indeed change color. Slowly, but surely, he was going mad. . .  
  
***~~~***  
  
Sephiroth met up with Aerith, Yuffie, and Squall on his way to the library.  
  
"Where have you been?!" Yuffie scolded.  
  
"We've been worried something might've happened!" Aerith exclaimed, staring at Sephiroth somewhat angrily. Sephiroth looked from Yuffie to Aerith and repeated this several times, then looked to Squall.  
  
"What about you, Squall?" Sephiroth asked.  
  
". . . Whatever." Squall replied, cracking a half-smile.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Cid Highwind was tinkering with some gears used for the lifts, when Laguna entered his workshop. Cid looked up from his work, noticed it was Laguna, and put down his wrench.  
  
"Well, if it ain't Laguna Loire! What brings you back up 'round my parts?"  
  
"I need a favor, Cid."  
  
"Ugh, of course you do. . . You know you still owe from when we borrowed Odine's experimental magic oven?"  
  
"Borrowed! What?! We stole that- oh. Yes. . . borrowed. . ." Laguna scratched his head, and shifted his eyes side to side.  
  
"What'd you ever do with that thing anyway?"  
  
"HEY, what'cha workin' on over there?" Laguna asked. Cid raised an eyebrow and looked at the gears.  
  
"That? Eh, nothin'. Though, I did do some modeling of. . ." Cid dug through various gizmos and gadgets until he found the one he was looking for. ". . . whatever the heck this is."  
  
Laguna took the gadget from Cid, and examined it carefully.  
  
"Wow! What is it?" Laguna asked, scratching his head again.  
  
"See that's the thing- I dunno. I saw it in a dream. A dream where me, a whole bunch of people I've never seen before, and that new guy were all riding on this thing."  
  
"Riding on it? How do you ride on a little thing like that?"  
  
"It was a lot bigger in my dream, you blockhead! It probably would've taken up more space than the Entrance Hall, Library, and Castle Chapel combined. And watch this." Cid used a needle to fiddle around with a microscopic something near the front. He set it down, and a few seconds later, it lifted into the air on its own, and hovered shoulder-level from the workshops cluttered floor.  
  
"Wow. . . What do you call it? Kids would get a big kick out of this toy."  
  
"It's not a toy! And I think they all called it the 'Highwind'."  
  
"The Highwind? Tch, the name sucks."  
  
"Hey, shut up! Or else I won't help you with this 'favor'." Cid threatened.  
  
"All right, all right. We're gonna sneak into ~'Ultimecia's castle, then that's when you have to defeat her. Time Compression-'~"  
  
"Say wha-? What are you talking about?" Cid asked, bewildered.  
  
"Mm? Oh, I meant we're gonna sneak into Ansem's lab, and see what he's been workin' on."  
  
"Now wait, Laguna, don't you think we're pushing the limit here?"  
  
"Nonsense! He's been so secretive lately, it's his fault!" Laguna replied indignantly.  
  
"I see. . . Well, I'm always up for a good adventure. What the heck? Count me in."  
  
"AAAAAALLLLLRRRRRIIIIIGGGGHHTTT!!!!!!!!!" Laguna yelled jumping into the air, shouting loud enough to wake every soul in the Bastion.  
  
"Shut up!" Cid hissed. "You're going to wake the dead!" 'Cid, m'friend, that's exactly what I'm hoping for,' Laguna thought, his mind on Raine. 


	6. Chapter V: The Seekers of Knowledge

Chapter V: The Seekers of Knowledge  
  
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing  
himself."  
-Leo Tolstoy  
  
***~~~***  
  
"Where's Seph?" Yuffie asked. It was more to herself than to anyone else, but Squall spoke up nonetheless.  
  
"The library," He replied, leaning against the wall of the waterways.  
  
"Again?! He's been in there every day for the past week!" Aerith moaned.  
  
"I think Seph needs a nice intervention! Who's with me?" Yuffie cheered, holding up a fist. Aerith looked at Yuffie as if she were insane, and Squall quirked a very confused brow. "All right, all right. Maybe he doesn't need an intervention, but he sure as heck should get something!"  
  
"I'll go talk with him," replied Squall, stepping away from the wall he was leaning on. He started for the library, his footsteps echoing through the castle corridors.  
  
"Do you think he can set Seph straight?" Yuffie asked.  
  
"I hope so... I'm really worried about Seph..."  
  
***~~~***  
  
Ansem dashed into his lab, quickly as he could, and he locked the door behind him. He had experiments to conduct, and he couldn't let anybody disturb him. That, and he had two cats in a sack.  
  
"All right, Heartless... Let's just see what you like..."  
  
With that, he set a cat down in a fenced area, walked over to the other side of the lab, and pulled a random chain, that was hanging from the ceiling. Upon pulling the chain, a cage door rose, and a small Heartless hobbled out. Being sure not to hit the cat, or the Heartless, Ansem tossed a fairly large rock into the fenced area.  
  
The Heartless walked around the closed off area, circling the cat. It completely ignored the rock. The Heartless then hobbled next to the cat, which hissed at the Heartless. Then the Heartless stole the cat's heart.  
  
If Ansem blinked, he would've missed it, but the cat's heart left its body, and went into the body of the Heartless. With that, the cat turned into a Heartless itself, feline in nature.  
  
"Fascinating... It seems those who lose their hearts to the Heartless, become Heartless themselves... But... I wonder..."  
  
Ansem walked over to his desk and began writing.  
  
"The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace.  
  
I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the heartless become Heartless themselves.  
  
Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral principles.  
  
Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them?  
  
It's just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?"  
  
Ansem titled the document, 'Report, Page Four', and filed it with three other similar pages. And Ansem continued with his experimentations.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Squall walked through the library quietly. He started to worry when he saw almost every book had been taken off the shelves, and he could've sworn that almost every shelf had been rearranged, making the library an unknown labyrinth.  
  
Sephiroth sidestepped from a bookshelf, blocking Squall's path. Squall jumped in surprise, but Sephiroth wasn't phased.  
  
"Hello, Squall Leonhart."  
  
"Erm... Hello, Sephiroth. Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm just fine. And yourself?"  
  
"Oh... um... I'm good..."  
  
"All right, then.... Have a glorious day." And with that, Sephiroth walked away. Squall tried to follow him but got lost. Somehow, the library had changed, and became a labyrinth, very dissimilar from how it was before... None of the book shelves were where they should have been... Eventually, Squall backtracked, and went to find the others.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Sephiroth was so indulged in his reading, that he didn't even notice it when He arrived.  
  
"What are you doing, Sephiroth?"  
  
"Hm? Oh, it's you..." Sephiroth spat. Cloud arched a brow.  
  
"What do you mean? What about me?"  
  
"You. You are a warrior for the light." Cloud arched his brow again. "You will be one of the few who will try to eradicate the darkness. Oh, excuse me, the [i]coming[/i] darkness, anyway."  
  
"Is that such a bad thing?" Cloud asked.  
  
"It is. You don't see... Nobody sees it!"  
  
"Sees what?" asked Cloud, scratching his head.  
  
"That darkness is the heart's true essence! Darkness is the ultimate power! And you all want to destroy it? To stop it from coming into being?!"  
  
"Yes," Cloud replied firmly.  
  
"Impossible! Darkness will come! It will take everything and all! Including you." Cloud only smirked at Sephiroth's rant, but on the inside, he was terrified.  
  
"I'm leaving Sephiroth. I hope you enjoy yourself and your delusions." With that, Cloud walked out and left Sephiroth to his reading. It was not five minutes after Cloud left, that Sephiroth was Gone.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Laguna and Cid were outside Ansem's laboratory. It was just past one in the morning, and cold air was rushing from the Rising Falls. Laguna's teeth were chattering, but Cid, on the other hand, stood as if it were summer day.  
  
"I'm cold!" Laguna whined. Cid shot Laguna a 'shut-up-if-you-know-what's- good-for-you' look, and knocked on the laboratory's door. After no response, Cid, again, rapped softly on the door. Again, there was no response. Laguna shoved Cid out of the way, and loudly banged on the door with his fist. Nothing.  
  
With his pistol, Laguna shot the door's handle and kicked it open.  
  
"Wow, that was loud enough to wake everyone in the castle," muttered Cid.  
  
"Shh! Someone might hear you!" Laguna hissed. Cid rolled his eyes, and followed Laguna into the dark laboratory. Ansem was waiting for them.  
  
***~~~***  
  
"Hello, Aerith." The voice behind Aerith made a chill run down her back. She tensed her shoulders, and turned to face Cloud.  
  
"Oh... hello Cloud... What brings you here?"  
  
"I spoke with Sephiroth in the library." Cloud replied, scratching his head. Aerith cocked a brow and crossed her arms.  
  
"And...?" Aerith's voice was cautious, as Cloud still made her nervous.  
  
"He's become obsessed with darkness. I think he needs help... Have you spoken with his father?" Cloud asked curiously. Aerith scuffed her toe on the stone floor. The two were standing in a section of the Bastion that overlooked the ocean. A slight breeze ran through the windowless corridor and beat against Aerith's skin.  
  
"No... I haven't seen Vincent around for a few days." Aerith replied, the cautious tone never leaving her voice. She may felt a tad bit of physical attraction to Cloud, but she still feared him. Cloud, sensing this held out a gloved hand.  
  
"That first impression of me didn't go very well, did it?" Aerith, fear in her eyes, shook her head slowly. "I'd like a chance to make that up. If you'll let me." Aerith stared at Cloud for a long while until she reluctantly shook Cloud's hand. "Thank you, Aerith."  
  
***~~~***  
  
Squall entered his room and closed the door behind him. He ransacked his room, looking for one thing he knew would bring Sephiroth back- a drawing of Yuffie.  
  
Gala had drawn the picture of Yuffie six months ago, and Yuffie gave it to Squall as a present when their relationship ended three months ago. Squall found the drawing in the most obvious of places- his nightstand. It was framed it a frame carved from a piece of the Bastion itself.  
  
Squall lifted the drawing from his nightstand, and walked out of his room, only to literally run into Ellone. Ellone clutched her nose in pain, and Squall rubbed his forehead.  
  
"Hey, why don't you watch where you're going, klutz?" Squall asked bitterly. Tears were streaming down Ellone's cheeks. "Oh, Sis, I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Ellone sniffed, a mixture of mucus and blood running up her nose.  
  
"I'm fine, but Uncle Laguna, he... He's missing!" Squall's expression went from concerned to grim.  
  
"So?" he asked in response. Ellone looked mortified, and without thinking, she slapped Squall. A red print of Ellone's hand burned on his left cheek, the pain stinging. He hated to see Ellone like this, and understood her worry, but Squall just didn't care. "What was that for?!" he asked, annoyed, instead of rubbing his forehead, he now rubbed his cheek.  
  
"You know damn well what that was for! Uncle Laguna is the closest thing you have to a father, and you treat him as if he was nothing!"  
  
"Well, actually-"  
  
"Stop. Leave this house. Now." Ellone ordered, pointing towards the door. Squall glared at Ellone, and picked up his gunblade, holding the drawing of Yuffie close to his chest. He walked to the door, violent turning the knob, and as he walked out he slammed it forcefully behind him.  
  
Squall was storming through the halls of stone, some people staring at him as he walked past them, but Squall didn't care. He was too angry to think of others, his mind was only on Laguna, and his poisonous hatred towards him.  
  
'Who cares if he's missing?! I hope he is dead. I wouldn't give a damn if he was attacked by a Heartless and killed.' The dark thoughts about Laguna, and the mentioning of the Heartless in his mind finally attracted them to him.  
  
Squall wasn't paying attention, not even to the people who were running away in fear. He was suddenly attacked from behind, and sent sprawling forward, his gunblade impaling him through the stomach, the framed drawing of Yuffie flying through the air.  
  
It landed on the stone floor, and cracked, then shattered. Squall looked at it with a great despair, not even noticing the blood oozing from his wound. Not even noticing as he coughed blood. Not noticing as he vomited on the stone floors, the acrid mixture of blood and bile, stinging his nose. He landed with a thud to the floor, and his eyes fluttered closed.  
  
***~~~***  
  
A mournful dirge, a melancholic echo was what Laguna woke up to. His eyes opened and he sat up, groggily.  
  
"Where am I?" he asked loudly to nobody in particular.  
  
"We're in jail, moron." Cid replied bitterly. Laguna looked around for Cid but couldn't find him.  
  
"Where are you?" Laguna asked dumbly.  
  
"In the cell next to yours, jackass. Your little night raid landed us both in jail."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"Will you stop with all of the stupid questions?! Apparently, it's a law that the laboratory is forbidden." Cid's voice echoed through the dungeon.  
  
"Oh... Why don't I remember anything?"  
  
"You hit your head on the way in- the door was kind of low. You conked out after that." Cid could be heard striking a match and lighting his pipe.  
  
"Oh. Did you see what Ansem was doing in the lab?" Laguna asked excitedly, feeling a large bump on his forehead.  
  
"He had one of them little Heartless buggers. Poking 'im with a stick, seeing how it'd react."  
  
"Oh." Laguna was disappointed that Ansem was locked away in his lab, poking black stuffed animals with sticks. He stood, and shook the bars, then tried to see if he was thin enough to slip through, and, of course, he wasn't. "So, Cid, m'friend, how're we gonna get out of this one?"  
  
"Not a damned clue. Last I checked Ansem doesn't keep a key for the dungeons." Cid replied from the next cell over.  
  
"Yes he does. I've been in here before. Remember when I tried to kill Queen Dalaar?"  
  
"How could I forget? You had the entire castle in an uproar."  
  
"Well I was thrown in here. But when Ansem came down and personally talked to me, he let me out, on accord if I swore my life I'd never steal again."  
  
"Then he should've thrown you back in here long before now- you still haven't returned my tool set. What do you do with those, anyway?" Cid asked.  
  
"Hey, has anybody come down to see us?" Laguna replied quickly.  
  
"Nope. Not a soul. Though, when we were thrown in here, I remember someone else was in another cell. He was screamin' up a storm."  
  
"Torture, I guess. Who was it?"  
  
"Don't know. But the screaming was reduced to muttering a few hours ago, and he stopped talking altogether a few minutes ago. Bastard was driving me nuts. Hmm... HEY, BUDDY, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Cid's yell got no response. "Must've fallen asleep or somethin'..."  
  
A chill ran down Laguna's spine as the dungeon was cold and damp- that had to be it... "Yeah, I suppose. So, how're we gonna get out of here?"  
  
"Didn't you already ask that?" Cid asked, annoyed.  
  
"Yeah, but you never answered. Do you think we'll be tortured or killed too? If so, we'd better come up with something quick!"  
  
"You're the non-brains here, you figure something out. I'm taking a nap." Laguna opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. As Cid started snoring, Laguna started plotting.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Sephiroth went home, more tomes, journals, scrolls, and other things under his arm. Black circles hung below his eyes, which themselves were bloodshot. He had been awake for the past seventy-four hours, reading. He decided to go home for rest and restoration, followed by reading.  
  
As he walked into his home Vincent sat at the kitchen table, his expression sad, yet grim. He looked at Sephiroth as the door opened. Sephiroth could see a mix of emotions and paused, waiting for his father to say something. After a few moments of silence Sephiroth spoke.  
  
"What is it?" he asked impatiently.  
  
"You haven't been home in more than three days. You said you were going to the library."  
  
"I was in the library." Sephiroth replied shortly.  
  
"Liar." Vincent replied.  
  
"I was. I was researching something for the king. Ask him yourself."  
  
"I did. He said he asked a favor of you. He didn't think you'd take it so seriously," Vincent countered. Sephiroth scoffed.  
  
"He's lying," replied sharply. Vincent got to his feet angrily, his chair sweeping across the floor and hitting the wall.  
  
"Don't even start!" Vincent snarled ferociously. After a pause, he sighed, and sat back in his chair. "There's something else... Squall, he... tried to commit suicide earlier today. He impaled himself with his gunblade. The drawing of Yuffie was near his body.  
  
Sephiroth seemed apathetic but he replied anyway. "Is he dead?"  
  
"No... They've got him in the infirmary. Yuffie, Aerith, and... um... Cloud... they're at the hospital right now. Do you want to go?"  
  
"I'm tired, and I've got research." Before Vincent could reply, Sephiroth stormed in his room, slamming the door behind him. 


	7. Chapter VI: Ruptured Barrier

Chapter VI: Ruptured Barrier  
  
"Humans... You live in a small world and box themselves in rooms even  
smaller..."  
-Amy Acker  
  
***~~~***  
  
It was early in the morning. Very early. Nobody was awake, except for the castle sentries that patrolled the corridors, but they wouldn't hinder Ansem's experiment. Only a few minutes earlier had Ansem selected a Heartless. It was a small black creature, something a child may find "cute". It had glowing yellow eyes, and wriggling antennae. These breeds of Heartless (Ansem learned earlier that there were many different kinds, such as the feline variation from his experiment, and the wizard creature that interrupted dinner) were shockingly small for such dangerous creatures, but Ansem knew to keep up his guard.  
  
The Heartless' antennae began to vibrate intensely, and it ran off into the depths of the castle. Ansem pursued the creature with no immediate hurry, just merely following it. The Heartless passed through the castle chapel, and into a room that Ansem hadn't noticed before now, which was very plain. The Heartless stopped- its journey was done. Rather than taking it back for study, Ansem merely conjured a small wave of energy, and sent it towards the Heartless, which dissipated in a cloud of black smoke. From the smoke rose a glowing "heart", that vanished with the smoke.  
  
Ansem was disappointed. The Heartless led Ansem into an abandoned room. But-  
  
"Hello, what's this?" he muttered to himself. A solitary door stood there, set into the wall of the room.. The door had a large keyhole, and a doorknob. Ansem pondered for a few moments what lied beyond the door, but couldn't think of anything- he'd never known of this room's existence, let alone the door and wherever it lead... After thinking of all possible outcomes, Ansem opened the door, and began the Hollow Bastion's slow decline into darkness.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Squall was better in a few days after his incident. Nobody believed it was accidental, so Squall was placed in the worst possible place: the insane asylum, or, more like, the jail. And that was where Laguna was.  
  
Squall just stared at Laguna, and Cid too, who were in separate cells. Squall was placed in a cell across from Cid's with clear view of Laguna. After the guards left, Squall broke the silence.  
  
"You know, everybody up there thinks you're dead," He said simply. Laguna looked at him wryly, and Cid scratched his head in confusion.  
  
"Y'mean to tell me that Ansem didn't tell anybody he put us here?"  
  
"Ansem put you here?" Squall asked. Now it was his turn to be confused.  
  
"No, of course not. Vivi Oruntina tricked him in here, he said the prison was made of candy. Naturally Laguna went into that cell, curiosity claimed the poor fool." Cid's little sarcastic rant confused Squall even more.  
  
"Really? Because I think Laguna would be foolish enough to fall for it," Squall replied. Cid threw his arms up in exasperation and Laguna looked at the floor forlornly.  
  
"I want candy..." Laguna whimpered. Squall grunted to himself. He truly wished the Heartless had finished him off- nothing was more tortuous than this.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Ansem had returned from sending the Leonhart boy into prison and was tired. Kairi was tucked in bed, asleep. Her nanny, Ma Dincht, had told her a story earlier that afternoon, and it was Ansem that had to tell her what foolishness it was. The story entailed of a chain of worlds all being destroyed and recreated by the light in childrens' hearts. Ridiculous. Once Ansem told her the story was nonsense, she stopped worrying about it and went to sleep.  
  
Ansem was on his way to his laboratory, when he saw it. A single falling star. Falling from the sky. It was fairly large, a jet stream of light. But more followed. Soon, the sky was filled with the falling stars. The stars came alarmingly close, one hitting the castle chapel, the other hitting the catacombs, both leaving gaping holes. But Ansem was too mesmerized. Once the meteor shower was over, Ansem noticed something peculiar- every star in the sky had vanished...  
  
Ansem proceeded to his laboratory and quickly scrawled on a scrap of paper:  
  
"To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a target, headed deep into the castle. In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence.  
  
It had a large keyhole, but didn't seem to be locked. So I opened the door.  
  
What I saw on the other side mystified me.  
  
What was that powerful mass of energy. That night I observed a great meteor shower in the sky.  
  
Could it be related to the door that I have opened?"  
  
Ansem filed the page as "Report, Page Five".  
***~~~*** The next day, Ansem rounded up some more Heartless, to try and find that door again. They all lead him back to that same room, to that one door. After disposing of the Heartless (by use of a very sharp lance), Ansem opened the door once more. After staring at the lights and colors that lied beyond the door, Ansem closed it and rushed back to his lab.  
  
***~~~***  
  
The days following Squall's incident, Ellone didn't say much. She and Squall hadn't said much in the hospital room, and that is what was tearing her up inside. The last real conversation they had was a bitter one.  
  
What if he had died? Was it her fault? Ellone couldn't handle all of the guilt. She merely stayed in her house, sobbing, and didn't come out.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Sephiroth didn't get to sleep a whole lot, but he got some sleep. As luck would have it, he was awake for the meteor shower. Such a fascinating occurrence! Sephiroth wondered what it would be like to able to control the stars. To bring love to the world, or bring destruction at whim. Such power... If only he could have it...  
  
***~~~***  
  
Ansem wrote even more sloppily than the last time, on the page that would be titled, "Report, Page Six":  
  
"A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observations of the Heartless.  
  
The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core. That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too--the heart of this world. There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world.  
  
The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?" 


	8. Chapter VII: Revelations

Chapter VII: Revelations  
  
"Ignorance truly is bliss."  
  
***~~~***  
  
Laguna, Cid, and Squall stared at the meteor for several minutes, all of their heads, poking out between the cell before one of them spoke.  
  
"What is it?" Laguna piped up softly.  
  
"It's an- erm, that is to say, it's a-"  
  
"Meteor," whispered Squall, fascinated. He grabbed his sore chest, and coughed raspily, blocking his cough with his fist.  
  
"Meteor? How do you know?" Laguna questioned, not taking his eyes off of the glowing rock.  
  
"If fell out of the sky. Rocks don't rain from the sky for no apparent reason," Squall replied annoyed. 'I swear, he's a complete idiot,' Squall thought to himself.  
  
"Ah, yes, I see...." Laguna said wisely, nodding sagely. Squall shook his head, rolling his eyes in the process. He looked at the bars, shook them violently, and thought for a moment.  
  
Cid and Laguna looked at him oddly. "What are you doing?" Cid asked, lighting his pipe. Squall ignored him as Cid puffed lightly, his cell filling with vanilla scented smoke.  
  
Squall cleared his throat, rolled his neck, cracked his knuckles, and slipped through the bars. Cid dropped his pipe, and Laguna applauded.  
  
"Thank you all," Squall said, smiling lightly.  
  
"I'll thank you once you get me out," Cid said lustfully.  
  
"It would be a nice gesture," Laguna pleaded. Squall thought for a moment. 'I don't mind letting Cid out. But if I do that, Cid will want Laguna to get out... decisions, decisions...'  
  
"Let me think about it," Squall replied, sitting on the cold, damp, prison floor. Laguna grunted in disapproval, and Cid shook the bars of his cell. He yelled, cursed, and threatened Squall, until Squall stood, and looked around for a key. "YOU LET US OUT RIGHT NOW, YOU RAT BASTAR-"Laguna cleared his throat loudly, cutting Cid off. Cid looked to the wall of his cell, as if it were made of glass, and he were staring at Laguna. "But, Laguna, friend, he could be our only chance to get us out," Cid said through clenched teeth, ever so calmly.  
  
"He'll make the right decision," Laguna responded comfortingly. Squall shrugged.  
  
"See, you guys," he said standing, and turning to walk away.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Ansem set the page into a portfolio with the other six, this page titled: "Report, Page Seven":  
  
"I am studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are combined, they bond easily.  
  
None of the records even mention such a substance. Was it introduced to this world when I opened the door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world... I wish I could soar off and find out!  
  
Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow. But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place."  
  
And Ansem believed it. Uncharted, worlds... How many worlds were there? Two? Three? Forty-seven? Five-hundred-sixty-two? Or even 1,253, 739, 295 worlds? It fascinated Ansem to no end.  
  
Were there multiple worlds out there? And, if so, how did he end up at the Hollow Bastion? And continuing on that, say there were 1, 253, 739, 295 worlds, couldn't he just have easily ended up somewhere else?  
  
But, if there was any chance of leaving the Hollow Bastion, Ansem was sure he would take it. For now, he would wait.  
  
Ansem was tired of waiting. He captured some more Heartless, scouring the rocky abyss below the castle, where the Heartless were innumerable.  
  
'Simply astonishing. I wonder why they are all down here? Why haven't they all been attracted to the surface, where everyone is?' Ansem thought to himself. With a few 'Shadow' Heartless- the variety that appeared most frequently, the small ones that had glowing yellow eyes, and wriggling antennae- stuffed into a sack, Ansem traversed through the crags of the cliff, where he finally came to a cave.  
  
'So many aspects of this world even I haven't discovered...' Ansem's thoughts were put to a halt as he saw what was in the cave.  
  
A statue. Not just any statue, but a memorial. And not just any memorial, but the memorial of King Tetsuya Nomura, the first king of the Hollow Bastion. The statue was sculpted in marble, but marble that was tainted black. Many Heartless were stuffed inside the cave, some clawing the statue, some trying to absorb the statue, any way they could.  
  
All were very hostile towards the statue. Many different kinds of Heartless, some that Ansem hadn't even seen before, were packed inside the cave. One Shadow's antennae vibrated, and straightened out, pointing directly at Ansem. It turned, and got the attention of the other Heartless, who were all soon staring at the king.  
  
Ansem swore, turned and ran, the Heartless quick on his heels.  
  
"Not a good day," he grunted to himself as he ran, throwing the sack of Heartless over the side of a cliff trail.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Sephiroth was in the library.  
  
"Go figure," Yuffie said, her eyes stinging with tears. "I thought you'd be here."  
  
"Where else would I be?" Sephiroth responded, not looking up from the book he was reading.  
  
"I don't know, with your friends, maybe? With- oh, say- me?" Her voice was sharp and cold.  
  
"Why would I be with you?" Sephiroth asked incredulously, his nose still in the book. A pained wince crossed Yuffie's face, but Sephiroth didn't see it...  
  
"We are dating!" Yuffie replied, her voice cracking as tears slowly slid down the contours of her face.  
  
"So what?"  
  
"What do you mean 'so what'?"  
  
"I mean, what's the point? Of dating?"  
  
"To... um... have fun. To get to know someone." Yuffie's voice was becoming more indignant than hurt.  
  
"Alright. Go, erm, have fun."  
  
"We're supposed to be together," Yuffie responded crossly. "We're supposed to have fun, being together."  
  
"We're together now."  
  
"Not all of us. You are reading a damned book!" Now anger seethed into Yuffie's tone, and was deepening, as Sephiroth continued reading.  
  
"Mm," was Sephiroth's reply. Yuffie couldn't contain her anger, as she found one of her shurikens, and threw it at Sephiroth. The bladed circle dug into Sephiroth's angelic black wing, driving blood out, as it forced its way through feathers and into his flesh.  
  
Sephiroth growled in pain, lowered his wing, and with one hand removed the shuriken, and his other hand turned the page. He dropped the shuriken, and it clattered to the library floor, the impact echoing through the walls. Sephiroth continued reading.  
  
Yuffie, turned away, and ran out of the library, bawling to herself. She ran through the entrance hall, through hallways, through chapel, through the bowels of the castle. She ran for hours, and when she stopped, she was in an unfamiliar place.  
  
Rocky cliffs surrounded her, and she looked around, her face mottled, saturated with tears.  
  
'Great... Now I'm lost...' she thought bitterly. Thoughts raced through her head, some of her current situation, some of her bitter rage towards Sephiroth. Loud footsteps broke her train of thought. 'Who the-?'  
  
"Ansem?" she muttered softly, confused. He was running from a stampede of the creatures... the "Heartless".  
  
He was gesturing for her to run, all the while running himself. Yuffie stood, growling. Now her king was being attacked???!? Was nothing meant to go right today?!?!?  
  
Yuffie screamed, and drew her Four Point Shuriken, a shuriken the size of a large dinner plate, somewhat resembling a cross, and ran into the stampede. Ansem tried to pull her to follow him, but she didn't budge.  
  
"Come with me, Miss Kurasagi!" Ansem ordered, looking frantically back to the herd of Heartless that were pursuing him.  
  
"Go," she snarled. "Run, now!" Yuffie's voice was saturated with distaste, and Ansem turned and ran, not in fear of the Heartless, but in fear of Yuffie. As Ansem ran away, Yuffie turned to face the Heartless.  
  
It was only a few minutes later, and black dust, the only remains of the many Heartless, were blowing in the wind, and Yuffie was kneeling, wide- eyed, and breathless.  
  
Her eyes were bloodshot, and her breathing was labored. So much anger and hate had been released, and Yuffie's mind was empty. She hated nobody, and nothing. In fact, she felt nothing, either. Her heart was gone... Sephiroth destroyed it... Her heart was dead. Upon realizing this, Yuffie's vision went dark, and she blacked out.  
  
When Yuffie awoke, she was falling...  
  
did i fall off the cliff.... no... darkness... im in... darkness... abyss...cold...  
  
Yuffie's body vanished, becoming a cloud of black smoke. A glowing heart rose from the cloud and dissipated. The cloud conformed, and twisted, into that of a Shadow Heartless.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Squall didn't get very far. As he started walking, he glanced over to cell two over from Cid's. Inside was a Heartless.  
  
'Is it a Heartless?' Squall thought to himself. His mere presence caught the creature's attention, and it "faced" Squall (this breed of Heartless was the small wizard type that had interrupted dinner a few weeks earlier, the day Cloud came to the Hollow Bastion).  
  
The two stood motionless, until the Heartless disappeared. Squall scratched his head in confusion, ignoring Cid's screams of anger. 'Where did it-' Squall didn't compete the thought as a blow struck him in the back of the head. Squall, rubbing the back of his head, angrily turned. The Heartless floated there, brandishing a small staff.  
  
Squall growled, and punched the creature, which seemed to have no effect, as the Heartless tried to hit him again. Squall dodged the attack, and dashed over to Laguna's cell.  
  
"Laguna! I need a weapon! A Heartless is here!" Squall exclaimed urgently, yet calmly.  
  
"H-H-Hang on," Laguna stammered nervously. He fumbled around his boot, and after a few seconds, produced a small derringer. "Here," said Laguna raspily, handing the small gun to Squall. "It only has one shot, so be careful," Laguna warned.  
  
"Ugh, fine," Squall replied, taking the pistol from Laguna's outstretched hand. He cocked it, aimed, and pulled the trigger. A loud pop issued from the gun, and the Heartless, who was approaching menacingly, swinging its staff, fell to the ground twitching. Squall dropped the pistol, and ran to the trembling creature.  
  
He wrenched its staff from its hand, and beat the creature until it was unmoving, and finally turned into a cloud of black smoke, from which a glowing heart rose, and vanished.  
  
Squall was breathless, and was gripping the staff tightly. He looked to Laguna, then to Cid, then back to Laguna. Squall then jammed the staff's bottom end into the cell's keyhole, and moved it around, until the cell unlocked. Squall pulled the door open, and Laguna ran out, cheering and praising Squall.  
  
Squall, rolled his eyes, and walked over to Cid's cell, unlocking it. Cid opened his door, and as he walked out of his cell, he glared venomously at Squall.  
  
"Why did you turn to leave?" he asked scathingly.  
  
"I was... oh, I dunno... uh... getting the key to let you guys out," Squall replied slowly.  
  
"Really?" asked Laguna, crossing his arms.  
  
"No. But, hey, if it's not broken, don't fix it, right?" Squall asked.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A brief flash- a much younger Laguna and two other young males, were all dressed in odd military uniforms, blue vinyl, with silver armor placed here and there. They were all standing in a tunnel of a multi-colored cave. "There! Like killing two pigs with one stone!" Laguna cheered. The large male cocked his head to one side, looking critically at Laguna. "Two pigs..." he started "...with one stone...?" a dark-skinned man finished. "Yeah..." Laguna replied slowly. "Never mind, let's just go..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Laguna and Squall both stumbled backward, Squall putting a hand to his head, Laguna, leaning against a cell door for support.  
  
Cid remained motionless, staring at them both. He cleared his throat, to get the duo's attention.  
  
"You were saying?" he said gruffly.  
  
"Hm? Oh, never mind," Squall replied, his mind a bit jumbled. A brief pause ensued, and Laguna piped up.  
  
"Cid, a few days ago, you said a man was screaming in the cell close to you..."  
  
"Yeah, why?" Cid asked, re-lighting his pipe, and taking a long puff.  
  
"Well..." Laguna pointed to the cell that was two away from Cid's- it was empty.  
  
"Wait... there was a Heartless in that cell..." Squall murmured slowly.  
  
"You don't think that...." Laguna trailed off, his eyes slinking over to the Heartless' staff, resting on the stone floor.  
  
"Heartless are actually people?" Cid inquired, furrowing a brow. He puffed on his pipe sagely, chewing on the end.  
  
"And I'll bet Ansem did this... I can't believe it..." Squall said bitterly. "Ansem was our king. Our leader... One who puts his people and kingdom before all else..."  
  
"Maybe," Laguna replied loudly, his voice chillingly drawled, "Ansem should have been put in the cell, and not you, Squall."  
  
"Let's face it, you guys- Ansem has gone insane," Squall agreed.  
  
"What are we gonna do?" asked Cid, puffing his pipe, chewing on its end nervously.  
  
"The only thing we can do," replied Laguna, "We have to kill the king... We have to kill Ansem." 


	9. Chapter VIII: Yesterday's Reprise, Part ...

**_Part II: The Darkness Conquers_**  
  
**Chapter VIII: Yesterday's Reprise, Part I**  
_The Hollow Bastion, Ten Years Earlier  
Flashback I: Sympathy for the Devil  
_  
_"Hello Darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again."  
**-Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle**  
_

"What is it, Professor Hojo?" Remus asked, annoyed. The door to Remus' lab opened, and Hojo ambled in, arms crossed behind his back. He was around twenty years-old, and had long, greasy, black hair, tied back in a ponytail. He had oily, sallow skin, and beady, untrustworthy eyes hidden behind thick spectacles. All of that, and he had a hump on his back, that obstructed his walk to an odd waddle.  
  
"Professor Gast... There is something you should see, in the waterways. I believe it to be an unidentified organism." Remus' eyes flashed in interest.  
  
"Where did you say?" he asked lustfully.  
  
"The waterways," Hojo replied, his voice as oily as his hair.  
  
"Take me there," Remus insisted.  
  
"Follow me." Hojo lead Remus Gast down to the sewers of the castle, where a small black creature was trapped in the prison-like gates that blocked off loose pets and would-be runaways.  
  
Remus inspected the creature that kept trying to attack the two scientists. It had glowing yellow eyes, wriggling antenna, and smooth black skin. It was very small, the size of a child's stuffed toy, and Remus would expect it would be, for not the ferocity of the creature's "attacks".  
  
"What is it?" Remus asked, fascinated at the hostile animal.  
  
"I have no clue. I came to get you before I talked to Queen Sorceress Dalaar about it," Hojo replied, sounding almost bored.  
  
"Well, I appreciate that, Professor Hojo."  
  
"Mm-hm..." was Hojo's response. Deep down inside Hojo was fairly flattered. Remus hardly ever put the title 'professor' before his name. But Hojo didn't expect it to last.  
  
"Here, let's capture it. Did you bring anything?" Remus asked, never taking his eyes off of the odd creature. Hojo grunted and pulled off his labcoat, tying the sleeves together, and handing it to Remus, who took it greedily. "All right, now, go flip the switch over there, and I'll contain it in here."  
  
Hojo obediently walked across the waterway floor (which was ankle-deep with water), and stroked a gem, that was imbedded into the wall. The gem glowed, and a gate slowly swung open. Remus seized this opportunity, and pounced upon the creature, quickly making the labcoat into a makeshift sack, and trapping the poor creature inside. Remus sealed all orifices of the labcoat- sack, and struggled for a moment with the squirming creature.  
  
"All right, let's take it back to the lab," Remus ordered. Hojo grunted, not pleased that he was Remus' subordinate. The two slowly took the creature to the lab, getting odd stares from the inhabitants of the Hollow Bastion.  
  
Hojo let the creature out of the labcoat, but quickly placed it inside of a small cage. The hostile monster ran around its confined prison, not making any noise. Now the two had a chance to inspect the creature a bit closer.  
  
It was somewhat humanoid, bipedal if nothing else. It had glowing yellow ovals for eyes, jagged antennae that never seemed to stop wriggling; and it had no nose, nor did it have a mouth. Hojo spoke these observations out:  
  
"How does it eat? Or breathe even?" Hojo asked in curiosity and confusion. Remus shrugged.  
  
"I have no clue... But we really should show this to the queen before we go cutting it open," Remus advised. Hojo nodded in agreement, and went to fetch the queen. Once Hojo was gone, Remus breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank whatever deity is out there that he is gone... Gosh that man gives me the wiggins...." Having said that, Remus turned his attention back to the black creature. "Little monster... what are you...? Where did you come from? Let's only hope the queen can provide some insight..."

Queen Sorceress Dalaar stepped back from the cage, and thought for a few minutes, the time dragging by, until she said, "I have no idea what it is, or where it came from." Remus' shoulders slumped, and Hojo furrowed a brow in annoyance.  
  
"Perhaps my brother, Prince Ansem, will have more ideas about this odd little animal," the queen suggested. The two scientists exchanged excited glances.  
  
"Excellent idea, Your Majesty," Hojo exclaimed.  
  
"Yes! Where is Prince Ansem at the moment?" Remus asked, shaking out of his labcoat.  
  
"In the chapel, I believe... Hm... Even if I have no idea what it is, I appreciate it being shown to me," the queen said wistfully. The two professors bowed to Dalaar, and she left the lab, to hunt for her brother."Hello? Is anyone here?" a voice called from the doorway. It was a woman, in her early thirties, wearing a blue sweater, khaki pants, and wore her brown hair in a bun. A girl, perhaps four or five, possibly the woman's daughter, was clinging to the woman's leg. The woman let out a loud sneeze, and the girl jumped in surprise.  
  
"Come on in, Sis!" A voice replied. "Welcome to the new humble abode of the Loires! Well, my name is Leonhart-Loire... I like the hyphen," said the woman. Her sister lightly applauded.  
  
"It's very pretty in here... Where's the baby?" Her voice was very nasally.  
  
"Oh, Squall? He's asleep right now, I didn't want to wake him," the woman said quietly. Upon hearing this, the woman contained her next sneeze and sighed quietly afterward.  
  
"Ugh, this cold... I've only had it today, but it's getting worse very quickly. I'm afraid Ellone might catch it!" Upon hearing her name, the little girl scampered to stand in front of her mother.  
  
"Hi, Auntie Raine! How's Squally?" she asked. Raine giggled to herself.  
  
"He's fine, dear, he's asleep right-"  
  
"I'm home!" called another voice from the doorway, this one male. Raine grunted, and hissed a sharp "shh!". The man came into the living room. He was fairly tall, had shoulder-length black hair, a small nose, and had a pistol holstered at his side.  
  
"Uncle Lagoona!" Ellone cheered running over to hug her uncle's knees. Laguna laughed to himself, and squirmed out of the little girl's grasp.  
  
"How're ya doin' darlin'?" Laguna asked, putting on a strange accent.  
  
_"Laguna!" snapped Raine. "Use proper English when speaking to Ellone!"_   
  
"Say what?" Laguna asked scratching his head.  
  
"You heard me!"  
  
"Aw, it's okay Raine. As long as he doesn't get too mouthy, she'll be alright," Raine's sister, Sarah, replied nonchalantly.  
  
"How're you doing, Sarah?" Laguna asked Sarah, giving her a peck on the cheek.  
  
"Oh, just fine, how about yourself?"  
  
"Wonderfully perfect! I have a wife, a son, a new house..."  
  
"My Gosh, he's been saying that to everyone he meets... Would you like anything to drink, Sarah, I may have quit bartending, but I can still whip up something good!"  
  
"Oh, no thanks, we have to get going, I only stopped in to see the-"she sneezed- "excuse me, house."  
  
"Well stop by again!" Raine called as Sarah was walking out the door.  
  
"Good to see you guys!" she called back. From out the door they could hear a childish, "Bye Uncle Lagoona!"  
  
Laguna smiled and turned to his wife, and kissed her on the cheek. "And how are you?"  
  
"I finally got a break, Squall fell asleep a few hours ago."  
  
"Wow. So this is his, what, second nap in five months?" Laguna asked. Raine smiled.  
  
"Something like that. Would you like anything to drink?"  
  
"Sure. Sarah have a cold, did she?"  
  
"Yeah... I hope Ellone doesn't get it..."  
  
"She's a great kid..."  
  
"You going back out?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess I should... After just one drink..."One would think with Vincent Valentine being eighteen, almost nineteen, that he would be the one who would be leading Ansem around into troublesome pranks, but this was not the case. Sixteen year-old Ansem was actually the leader.  
  
And this was the case right now. Ansem was constructing a "trap", of sorts, for some poor, unsuspecting citizen of the Bastion, in the chapel, while Vincent cautioned him.  
  
"Sire," Vincent started, a concerned tone in his voice, "your sister will not be too happy with you, if you go about trying to injure her subjects."  
  
"Bah, nonsense, Dalaar is a teddy bear, she wouldn't dare be angry with me," Ansem replied nonchalantly. His trap was one that required a person who wasn't paying attention to where they were walking, to step on a small slip on a small patch of cooking oil. If the trapee's impact to the floor was hard enough, than several pails of marbles would fall off of their respective ledges, covering the entire chapel floor with marbles, making it impossible for the person to walk further into, or out of the chapel without slipping several times.  
  
Vincent merely grunted in response, as Ansem was busy carefully setting pails full of marbles onto ledges. A figure cast a shadow into the chapel, and in a split second, Vincent had a pistol drawn and aimed at the figure in the chapel doorway.  
  
It was Lucrecia Valentine, Vincent's wife, pregnant with his son. Upon realizing who it was, Vincent immediately holstered his pistol, and turned a beet red in embarrassment.  
  
"Sorry, darling..." Vincent mumbled sheepishly.  
  
"Ah, the ever-faithful guardian. What are you two doing?" Lucrecia asked, watching Ansem scurry across the chapel, being careful to avoid the spreading cooking oil.  
  
"It'd be best to just not come in, dear, Prince Ansem is... well, you know," Vincent warned, holding out a gloved hand, for her to stay back.  
  
"Alright, I wanted to tell you two that the dinner bell will ring soon..." Lucrecia reminded the two of them. Ansem slapped his forehead.  
  
"Dinner, I was supposed to ask Dalaar something earlier today, urgh! Gosh, I'm a complete moron!" Ansem jumped down from a ledge, with enough force that every pail of marbles spilled their contents onto the floor.  
  
"Well, sire, I was going to tell you that you weren't a moron, but... um..." Vincent trailed off, looking as Ansem was surrounded in a sea of multi- colored spheres that were still rolling across the floor.  
  
"You two go on ahead, I'll try and maneuver myself out of here," Ansem said, looking around at the current situation he was in.  
  
"You are sure?" Lucrecia asked, concerned for the prince.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, go on to dinner, I'll be fine... Hmmm..." Ansem stood there, thinking, whilst Vincent and Lucrecia made their way to the Dining Hall to beat the crowd.  
  
'Excellent work, idiot, your own prank backfired on you...' Ansem thought bitterly. He kneeled to the floor, laying on his stomach, and crawled across the chapel floor, until he reached the doorway.  
  
Ansem grinned, satisfied with his victory, and began to walk to the Dining Hall, until he slipped on a single marble, one that had rolled astray into the hallway, and he fell, hitting the ground forcefully.  
  
He painfully stood, with a scraped chin, and bruised limbs. Ansem growled in annoyance and made his way to the Dining Hall, silently cursing irony.Dinner that night, and the next few nights that followed were uneventful. The bell rang, the people came, the people ate, the people left. But the night that Hojo was missing from his spot near Raine Leonhart.  
  
As everyone was eating, Hojo burst into the Dining Hall, his oily hair even more oily, and his greasy skin even more greasy, if either were possible. Even through his thick spectacles, one could see widened bloodshot eyes, and his lips were contorted into an insane grin.  
  
"I have it! We are the fathers!" Hojo screamed 'we are the fathers' several more times before Sorceress Adel grunted, stood, and cast a spell that, unbeknownst to him, muted Hojo.  
  
Hojo continued ranting in silence as a still badly bruised Prince Ansem spoke up, "Does anybody in this room know what in Hyne's name this man is talking about?" A long, quizzical silence... "Alright... Sorceress Adel, could you restore his voice so we know why to put him in the asylum?"  
  
Adel grunted once more, not wanting to hear Hojo's crazy phrase any longer, but was forced to oblige.  
  
"-the fathers! You and I Lord Ansem! We are the father's of the Valentines' child!" After that was spoken, both Lucrecia, Vincent, and Ansem all stood, and shouted an incredulous "What?!"  
  
"The genes of Prince Ansem and I formed into Lucrecia Valentine's embryo, which I implanted in her! It worked! And the child will be mine!" Hojo rubbed his hands together, trying to look sinister, but in the end it only made it seem he was warming them.  
  
"That's insane! When did you ever implant anything inside of me?!" Lucrecia asked, moving to stand closer to Vincent.  
  
"Your 'flu shot'! And your child will be born, very shortly. Exciting times, Lucrecia, exciting times," Hojo rambled, grinning sickly.  
  
"Isn't this happening too quick?" An anonymous voice asked.  
  
"No! I've waited over nine months bearing this secret, and I choose to reveal it now!" Hojo yelled. "In fact, I must return to my lab for more studies."  
  
It took a good several minutes for everyone to start clamoring over Hojo's insane craziness. Lucrecia and Vincent both turned a beet red while the entire castle talked _about_ them, but not _to_ them.Flash forward three weeks of unimportant events, yet tense rumors flitting back and forth at super-sonic speed, and Lucrecia is barricaded in her home.  
  
Only Vincent had seen her in the three weeks she isolated herself. Lucrecia was overridden with stress of Hojo's outrageous claim. Vincent was worried also, but he didn't display as much of it.  
  
But, then again, the only people he spoke to were Prince Ansem and Lucrecia. In fact, Vincent was doing his job as Ansem's guardian, while Lucrecia was inside their house, in bed. Her water broke two hours ago.

Remus Gast was home with his wife, Ifalna Gast, because Hojo had literally locked himself in the lab, and locked everyone else out. According to his observations, Project Angel Lustre was reaching immanency.

Project Angel Lustre... A project started over ten months ago by Hojo, in secret, it was to genetically create a human being, by fusing the likenesses of two already existent human beings. The Valentine baby, was the end result. And that baby should be born any day now...  
  
Was this project really existent? Or was it a crazy idea implanted inside Hojo's mind? After all... The "new creature" was in a nearby cage, covering emitting a thin, wispy, mist... Mist that Hojo breathed regularly, and with each breath, brought him further into darkness... mist that was slowly devouring his heart.

Raine Leonhart-Loire's brain was about to explode in an overload of stress. She and Laguna were ready to have a child, and they did have one- it was actually Raine that started the "trend" of getting pregnant- and the seven month-old Squall was more than a handful.  
  
He cried, and screamed, and yelled, and cried some more, whenever Raine left the room. She didn't have a moment to herself, and Laguna didn't help matters with running off with Cid Highwind to "play cards". Their sessions of Tetra Master went well beyond the simple, friendly card playing, and more into excessive drinking, swearing, and gambling.  
  
And Raine was at home right now. It was a cold, stormy day, just like the day Squall was born, and Raine was holding the boy close to her. He was sleeping right now, but Raine was sure that the moment she put him down, he'd start screaming, so she just rocked and held. Hyne, this was boring.  
  
Laguna came home about the time when the storm had been reduced to a calm drizzle. He was out later this time... When he walked inside he had a solemn expression engraved on his face, like an epitaph.  
  
"Honey, what's wrong?" Raine asked. Raine saw Ellone D'Argent, Raine's neice, creeping around Laguna's knees. She was crying, which was rare, and this worried Raine. "Laguna, what is it?"  
  
"Raine... Your sister, she..." Laguna stifled a sob at this point, another rare thing. "...She's gone, Raine... Apparently her cold wasn't a cold... She died of pneumonia this morning..."  
  
Raine gasped, and her breath was caught in her throat. She coughed heartily, and Laguna's eyes widened in terror. She held out a hand, and said, "I'm not sick."  
  
Then Ellone started bawling, that woke Squall who also started screaming, and that got Raine started, followed by Laguna. The new family united by marriage, birth, and death, mourned together for Sarah D'Argent.Hojo crept into the Valentine home, positive that Vincent Valentine was not at home. A newborn baby boy was lying on the bed, screaming his lungs out. He was covered in birthing fluids, but his hair was a jet black, no mistake about that.  
  
Lucrecia Valentine was asleep and exhausted. Her breathing wasn't very steady, so Hojo wrapped the baby in a towel he had brought, and wisked him away to the lab.  
  
"Project Angel Lustre phase three- injecting the baby with genes from the new-found creature...." Hojo cut the umbilical cord of the baby, cleaned him, gave it a shot in the arm of a dark liquid, and wrapped him up in a towel.  
  
When the child started to calm down some, it started screaming again, and Hojo noticed something- the baby's jet black hair was fading. Hojo smiled, and unwrapped the baby, holding him a good distance away from him. Hojo saw it.  
  
A wing, gray at first, but slowly absorbing the black from the baby's hair, was growing from the right shoulder of the baby. The wing had few feathers, mostly black fuzz, but Hojo was satisfied.  
  
If he didn't truthfully create the baby, he sure did take away its humanity. Now that he knew this was a success, he could do one last experiment. As he was leaving the lab to go deliver the baby back to the Valentine home, Remus entered the lab, holding a pistol.  
  
"Hello Hojo," he drawled. Hojo smirked, and Remus cocked the pistol. "I think you've gone far enough."  
  
Hojo used the baby to shield him, and when faced with the threat of a pistol being aimed at him, the Valentine baby was engulfed in calm, green flames. Although unburned, the baby screamed, and more of the "new creatures" enigmatically appeared from nowhere. Remus gasped, and fired at them, giving time for Hojo to escape.  
  
Hojo was careful running with the boy, and carefully deposited him back with his mother, who was still asleep.Remus was unconscious in the lab, even with the creatures gone, as Hojo reentered. He didn't know how the baby had summoned those creatures, but he didn't care at the moment. More pressing matters were at hand. Such as, his ascension.  
  
He extracted more DNA from the mysterious creature, who willingly gave it, and then Hojo immediately injected the substance into his own arm. Within the second of the needle piercing his skin, he already felt power screaming through his veins. He was changing. He was Becoming, nothing short of a devil.Ansem immediately paused in his studying. Something was wrong...  
  
"Vincent?" Ansem asked quietly. Vincent snapped out of whatever trance he was in, and looked out the window of the library.  
  
"Dear Hyne..." he whispered. The two dashed out of the library, and into the outside, where a group of people had gathered, trying to destroy a large, rampaging monster.Laguna was asleep. Squall was asleep. Ellone was asleep. Raine was not asleep. A thundering roar had woken her up... she was never a sound sleeper. And although it went against everything she knew, she went to investigate the goings-on outside...Lucrecia had woken up a while ago, and was pondering why her baby had a wing. Did he have a wing when he was born? Did it just now appear? Was she just going insane? She scooped up the baby, and awkwardly walked outside, as she was incredibly sore from giving birth, but still, she walked through the pain.  
  
After a good while of walking, she came to Ma Dincht's house.  
  
"Hello, honey, what brings you here?" Ma asked happily.  
  
"Ma, could you watch my son?" Lucrecia asked blankly.  
  
"Well, I guess, honey, what's his name?"  
  
"Hm?" Lucrecia asked, confused.  
  
"What's his name?"  
  
"...... Sephiroth......."  
  
"Hm... an odd name... oh well..." She turned and placed the baby in Zell's old crib, and when she turned, Lucrecia was gone. "Hm... What's wrong with her?"  
  
Sephiroth was crying.Lucrecia, Raine, and half of the castle's people were gathered around the beast, most in a panic, but Lucrecia and Raine both were very calm.  
  
Vincent and Ansem were hiding on a ledge, Vincent shooting the creature occasionally with his pistol, but the creatures hide was too thick.  
  
Remus Gast approached the beast, limping with a broken leg.  
  
"HOJO!!!" he yelled. "HOJO YOU BASTARD! STOP! I ORDER YOU TO STOP!" He pushed everyone aside to stand in front of the rampaging Behemoth, Hojo. "HOJO! STOP THIS!"  
  
Hojo roared, and with the horn that was embedded on his head, he impaled, Remus, Raine, and Lucrecia, all in a line, all dying instantly.  
  
Vincent, who had just noticed Lucrecia, sat on the ledge, in a monotone. He didn't fly into a blind rage, or scream and shout. He just sat.... and was engulfed in bright green flames.  
  
He jumped from the ledge, and started to transform himself. His canines elongated into fangs, his black hair, becoming spines, talons taking the place of hands. The vampire-esque thing that Vincent became was soon tearing at Hojo's flesh, cleaving it from his bones, using his fangs and talons.  
  
After much of Hojo lay here or there, Dalaar arrived, breathless. She swept Vincent aside with her magic, and then, her pupils dilated, and she started casting a long spell.  
  
Hojo, in pain, rage, and fear, stomped around, shook the trio of people off of his horn, and his stomping killed even more. Dalaar wasn't doing it fast enough!!!!  
  
'Don't fail your people now, Dalaar... Not when they need you most... Concentrate!!!!!' Dalaar screamed in pain, as Hojo slowly floated in air, and was perfectly still, unable to move. Tears tore their way out of Dalaar's eyes, and Hojo was thrown by the invisible force that Dalaar was invoking. He was thrown into the mists below the castle.  
  
Afterwards, Dalaar turned on Vincent, and used her own magic to morph him back into human, caging his inner beast. After performing all these feats, Dalaar fainted, exhausted.A stone stood in the farthest corner of the world, in a solitary meadow. The stone read:  
  
RAINE LEONHART-LOIRE  
Devoted Mother  
Beloved Wife  
_"May she ascend to Heaven with the courage and pride of a lion."  
_  
Laguna, holding a crying Squall in one arm, and a bawling Ellone in the other, were gathered around the stone.  
  
Further back in the same meadow, Vincent, holding his son, Sephiroth, stood before another stone.  
  
LUCRECIA VALENTINE  
Wife of Vincent Valentine  
Mother of Sephiroth Valentine  
_"Death also steals Angels."  
_  
And Ifalna Gast, wife of Remus, knelt before the last stone in the meadow. She wasn't crying but smiling warmly. She held her bulging stomach, and whispered, "Thank you Remus, for our baby..."Dalaar had been resting for awhile now, with Ansem attending to her. Now that she had started to show signs of life, Ansem was in the lab of Hojo and Remus, cleaning up. He was intelligent, very intelligent, yes, but nowhere near the greatness of Gast, or the madness of Hojo.  
  
Staring at the creature in the cage, he wrote:  
  
_"Much of my life has been dedicated to pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with people's smiles and respect.  
  
But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand. I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times.  
  
Darkness...  
  
Darkness of the heart.  
  
How is it born? How does it come to affect us so? As ruler of this world, I must find the answers.  
  
I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness."  
_  
Ansem filed the page, as "Report, Page One". Sighing grimly, Ansem looked to the creature in the cage.  
  
_'I will find out what you things are... And I'll do it, to stop whatever scheme you monsters may have in mind... I'll learn and learn and learn, to save these people... Count on it...'_


	10. Chapter IX: Arrival of the King of Light

Chapter IX: Arrival of the King of Light  
  
It was several months after Laguna, Squall, and Cid Highwind broke free from Ansem's dungeon, and now they had taken refuge in Raine's abandoned pub. Cid had taken a few essentials from his workshop, and Squall had taken a few things from Ellone's home while she was away. The three had banded together, to kill Ansem, and they would accomplish their goal... just as soon as-  
  
"I can't find my ironcutters!" Cid yelled. Both Laguna and Squall gave him a look that told him to shut up. Cid looked around, and repeated, "I can't find my ironcutters!"  
  
"Do you really need them?" Squall asked, scratching his head.  
  
"Yes, dammit, now help me find them!" Cid ordered. Squall scoffed, and went upstairs. The room was cluttered with some of his stuff, some of Cid's tools, Laguna's writings, and two beds, one his, the other one Cid's.  
  
Squall wondered which bed his mother had slept in, and who the other bed belonged to... This was his mother's pub, from when she was a bartender, before she died. She was killed during the rampage of the Behemoth, only a few months after he was born...  
  
***~~~***  
  
Ansem wiped the sweat off of his brow, and looked at his first invention. It was box-shaped, and had various gears, and belts, and other things to make it run, but did it work?  
  
'Beta version it may be, it must still be tested... Perhaps now I won't have to sacrifice as many lives to conduct further experiments...' he thought. Ansem took a deep breath of anticipation, and flipped a lever. Jets of steam came from various orange pipes and valves, and all of the gears, wheels, belts, began to turn.  
  
After a few minutes of this, a Heartless, came rolling out on a belt leading from the machine, to a containment cage.  
  
Ansem cheered silently, praising his genius, and finished the page of his report that he had started earlier that week. Altogether, the page (now page eight) said:  
  
"There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to the people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart. As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless.  
  
By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially. This device is the culmination of all my research thus far. The machine's test run successfully created a Heartless. This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing.  
  
The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits. But the two types remain distinct for the purpose of the experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially." Ansem chuckled in delight as he filed the page with the other seven, and pulled the lever again, to create more Heartless.  
***~~~*** Cloud laughed heartily and Aerith looked at him incredulously. "Shut up! It is not funny!" she yelled, punching him playfully. The two had spent much time together the past few weeks, Cloud having nothing but free time, and Aerith stealing time away from the people at the orphanage. "Not true. If it wasn't funny, why would I be laughing?" Cloud replied, stifling a laugh by biting down on his lower lip. "You won't be laughing when I'm strangling the life out of you!" Aerith threatened, reaching a clawed hand to Cloud's neck. "I may be choking, but I'd still be laughing on the inside," Cloud replied slyly. Aerith seemed to have given up, and for a few moments she only stared at him, into his eyes. She felt a burning in her chest, and felt that she might throw up, something she never felt with her infatuations with Sephiroth. Was this love?! 'If so,' Aerith decided, 'love sucks... But I kinda like it...' With perfect timing, Cloud bent forward to kiss her, and Aerith gasped inward as their lips connected, causing her to be out of breath when he kissed her. She jerked away and coughed, then gasped for air. When she looked back to Cloud, he had looked away, to the mountains in the horizon. Aerith tapped his shoulder, and once he turned, she kissed him. The kiss lasted a good few minutes, before both reluctantly broke it. Both Cloud and Aerith looked at one another, and kissed once more.  
***~~~*** Godo was furious. Yuffie hadn't been home in several weeks, and she was nowhere to be found. How could he train her to be the next ninja in the renowned Line of Wutai, if she wasn't at home, to be trained?! "Yuffie is foolish girl!" Godo growled to himself. "Not at home to train! Out fraternizing with friends! Maybe even ran away!!! Errrrggghhh...." Gala, who was drinking his tea, in the kitchen, listened to all of Godo's ramblings. 'Yuffie did not run away. If anything, she might even be in trouble! I must find her...' Gala thought to himself. He set down his tea, and walked into Godo's bedroom, and walked over to his weapons cabinet. It had been years since he wielded a weapon on any sort, as he was pushing his seventies, and as he picked up a thin sword, from the weapons cabinet, it felt almost too heavy in his aging hands. Gala tied the small sword to his waist, and set out to find his granddaughter- something his son was too stubborn and foolish to do himself.  
***~~~*** Seifer and Lulu were walking through the waterways, Seifer with his gunblade, the Hyperion, drawn. "What are we doing down here, Seifer?" Lulu asked. "One of those little bastards attacked me the other day. It disappeared before I had a chance to get it," Seifer answered, looking diligently around for any Heartless to use as a scapegoat. "Why did you take me?" Lulu asked. "I wanted to show you how I'd protect you from any one of these shadowed freaks," Seifer replied, throwing one of his trademarked cocky grins to Lulu. Lulu turned a beet red in embarrassment. She wasn't embarrassed because of Seifer's obsession of being a "Sorceress' Knight", but because that he would risk his life for her. Nobody had ever treated Lulu as if she was of that much importance, except for maybe Matron. Lulu watched as Seifer hunted for a Heartless, to prove his love, although he really didn't have to. The thought that he'd protect her until the end, was plenty proof enough.  
***~~~***  
where am i  
darkness... that is where i am...darkness... Yuffie, as a Heartless, had crawled her way up from the cavernous, abyssal, depths of the grand fortress, and was currently wandering around the castle, staying out of sight. If she stayed out of sight, nobody would see her like this... In the dark...  
***~~~*** It was twilight now, and Ansem had taken a break from creating Heartless. He had also stayed busy, by emblazoning them with a seal he designed, based on a piece of the castle (a heart with an odd-shaped bottom, and an "X" with small spikes crossing the middle). He used this seal to mark the Heartless he created, so he could monitor the differences in the ones he made, from the real ones in the Bastion's Depths. Ansem was in the library, with the boy, Sephiroth, lurking about, reading, when he saw the sky tear open. Lightning emitted from the tear, and an odd airship floated out of it also. Once the airship had completely gone through the rip in the sky, the rip sealed itself shut. The airship, which looked like it was made from the meteors that rained a few weeks ago, had finally landed on the courtyard in the Rising Falls. From where he was, Ansem couldn't see anyone coming out of the airship, but he rushed as fast as he could to the doors to the Entrance Hall, and opened. Walking up to the castle, was an odd creature, certainly not human, but Ansem didn't detect any hostility from it. On the creature's head, rested a crown, signifying he was of some nobility. 'A creature from another world! This can't be! But it is... An inhabitant from another world, is in my castle!' Breathless, amazed, astounded, ecstatic, and overall, confused, Ansem greeted the newcomer. "W-welcome to t-the Hollow Bastion..." 


	11. Chapter X: Key to Eternity

Chapter X: Key to Eternity  
  
One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.  
'Which road do I take?' she asked. 'Where do you want to go?' was his response. 'I don't know,' Alice answered. 'Then,' said the cat, 'it doesn't  
matter...'  
-Lewis Carrol; [u]Alice In Wonderland  
  
***~~~***  
  
Ansem didn't really know what to make of the newcomer- who just called himself "The King"- he decided not to disclose his real name. Ansem took the king to the library, and, luckily, the maddened Valentine child was gone. The two sat at a table, and talked.  
  
They talked for hours on end. The King began with talking about the vessel he used to get there. "It's made from things called 'Gummi Blocks'."  
  
"Gummi Blocks?" Ansem repeated, stupefied.  
  
"Your world's- and all of the others too- barrier is made from Gummi Blocks. When your barrier broke, your world was 'connected' to some of the others." The King explained.  
  
"Hmmm... There was a meteor shower the night I opened this particular door..." Ansem said, mainly to himself.  
  
"A door?" The King questioned. "Can I see it?"  
  
"Oh, I don't remember where it was," Ansem lied. Although Ansem felt no hostility from The King, he still didn't trust him to see his door.  
  
"Oh, I see..." The King replied thoughtfully, almost as if he could see through Ansem's lie. "Anyway, since your world is connected, I could get here."  
  
"You could get here, eh? Can you leave here? Can my people and I leave here?" Ansem asked, clawing the arm of his chair.  
  
"Oh yeah. In fact, I'm only staying tonight, and then I have to get back to my own kingdom," The King explained. Ansem was quite disappointed to hear this... The thought of someone who knew more than he did! The simple thought of it was astonishing.  
  
The King and Ansem talked much more after that, too. It was in the wee hours of the morning, and the two intellectuals started telling stories. It was one story that changed Ansem's life forever.  
  
"Kingdom Hearts," The King muttered.  
  
"Hm? What is 'Kingdom Hearts'?" Ansem asked, curious.  
  
"Kingdom Hearts, is the legendary 'Heart of All Worlds'. It is a door to Darkness... A door to Light... A door to Knowledge." At the word 'Darkness' Ansem's eyes lit up, and at the mention of knowledge, the King had his undivided attention. "Supposedly, within Kingdom Hearts is infinite knowledge. More than the libraries of all the worlds combined. But that knowledge is supposed to come with a price."  
  
"What price is that?" Ansem asked eagerly. For Knowledge, Ansem would do anything.  
  
"I'm not sure. The legend stopped after that..." Ansem's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "...but it'd be safe to say that the price is pretty high..."  
  
The two talked more about legends, and one particular legend snagged Ansem's attention more than the others.  
  
"The Key," The King said from out of the blue.  
  
"The Key? The Key to what?"  
  
"Well, it's called a 'Keyblade'. It's a weapon, of sorts, that holds phenomenal power. Now, there are two legends about the actual wielder of the Keyblade. One legend said he saved the world, and the other states he only brought chaos and ruin. Now, the Keyblade is rumored to be able to open doors, and close them."  
  
Out of all the stories, Ansem really liked this one, though, not as much as the one about 'Kingdom Hearts'... A door to Knowledge... 'Nobody should learn more than they have to about Kingdom Hearts... I suppose this must also be excluded from my report...'  
  
The sun had only risen an hour or so ago, and The King said he had to leave. Ansem objected, of course, but the King insisted upon his departure, so he returned to his vessel, and took flight, leaving the Hollow Bastion. Ansem immediately proceeded to his laboratory, when Sephiroth stopped him.  
  
"You! What do you want?" Ansem asked crankily. Sephiroth kept a calm, cool, insidious look that Ansem didn't like...  
  
"I was there," Sephiroth replied.  
  
"You were where?!" Ansem demanded. He raised a threatening fist, but Sephiroth obviously was not intimidated.  
  
"In the library. All night. Listening... to everything... I now possess more knowledge than even you," Sephiroth said madly.  
  
"Oh really?" Ansem sneered. "What exactly do you know about?"  
  
"The Key... Light... Darkness... In Between... Kingdom Hearts..." By now, Sephiroth had his back turned to Ansem, and, just for effect, he turned his back when he said the last word: "Paradise."  
  
Paradise. The one thing Ansem had wanted all along. Where did true Paradise lie? Ansem nervously licked his lips and said, "What would you like for this information?"  
  
"The same thing you do, sire... Darkness."  
  
***~~~***  
  
wood door  
  
open  
  
man with dark hair... man with blonde hair...  
  
through door  
  
squall... heart... heart... my heart.... Yuffie.  
  
I am Yuffie. Falling through the darkness... I can see it... I can see my  
heart.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Laguna and Cid crept out of the wooden door of the pub, not even noticing the Heartless that went in after them. The Heartless' antennae vibrated at the sight of Squall, who was currently unaware of the Heartless' presence.  
  
The Heartless pounced upon Squall without warning. Squall only had enough time to gasp in surprise before he and the Heartless were engulfed in a bright light. Everything happened in a blur- he saw the Heartless, then the light, then-  
  
"Yuffie...." Squall whispered. The ninja girl stood before him, looking drowsy, yet elated to see Squall. She threw her arms around Squall's neck, even before he had time to process everything.  
  
'Yuffie is... here? Why? Is she... hugging me?' Squall thought as Yuffie embraced him.  
  
"Squall! Oh Hyne! I've missed you so much! You have no idea how lost I was!" By now, Yuffie had started to cry, and was crying even as she talked. "I was falling in the darkness! And I couldn't find anyone! I started to forget my friends, my family, even me, but I didn't forget you! I found you!"  
  
Squall let Yuffie cry into his shoulder, and as everything came into focus, his undying love for Yuffie slowly diminished.  
***~~~***  
  
"...and then, Squall, he said, 'Back off you crazy leopard!'" Aerith and Cloud both laughed for several minutes, Aerith gasping for air, and Cloud frequently wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.  
  
All discomfort and fear from Cloud was gone from Aerith. She now felt more happy and safe with Cloud than she did with Sephiroth. And... when Squall was put away, Sephiroth ignored her, and Yuffie went missing, Cloud was there for her. He would stop whatever he was doing to spend time with her.  
  
And, at first, Cloud disliked Aerith for the aloofness she carried around with her friends and she, but now... Now, she couldn't spend enough time with her...  
  
When the two finished laughing, Cloud looked deep into Aerith... He knew something would happen... Something always did happen... From his birth within the world's core, from when his "father" Doctor Odine found him, adopted him, kept him as a secret, while all the while using him for information, and finally, when Sorceress Adel killed Odine, and forced Cloud into the Depths, from where he bided his time for the Darkness to take this place... Wherever Cloud went, Darkness and Pain always followed, like two faithful, conniving labradors. Darkness was coming... Cloud could feel it... And he knew there was no way he could stop it, and- the scary thing was- he wasn't sure he wanted to.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Ansem, after speaking with the devious Sephiroth, walked into his lab tired, yet energetic enough to write the ninth page of his report before falling unconscious on his desk:  
  
"Simply astonishing! Today I had a guest from another world. He is a king,  
and his vessel is built of the material that composed the meteors. He called the pieces 'gummi blocks.' It seemed that my opening the door has  
opened a path to inter-world travel.  
  
We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called the "Keyblade." The Keyblade is said to hold  
phenomenal power. One legend says its wielder saved the world, while  
another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it.  
  
I must know what this Keyblade is. A key opens doors. It must be connected  
to the door I have opened."  
  
***~~~***  
  
The next several days were rather tense. Ansem wasn't seen, not even at dinner, rumors of the disappearances of Laguna and Cid were raging about like a wildfire, and Yuffie's disappearance unnerved everyone.  
  
Cid, Laguna, Squall and Yuffie all stayed in the pub, living as quiet as mice, and Cid decided to not let Yuffie leave, as she knew of their location. Yuffie didn't mind- she took the bed next to Squall's, and that bumped Laguna to sleeping behind the bar.  
  
It was only a few days after Yuffie's metamorphosis back to a human, when she started to notice something was wrong with Squall.  
  
"Why aren't you talking to me that much? Is it because you're busy with the mission?" she asked. Of course, Yuffie couldn't live with them without being told of the plan to assassinate Ansem.  
  
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Don't worry about it," Squall said simply, brushing Yuffie off as he went to take a few boxes out of their room, and taking them downstairs. Yuffie followed close on his heels.  
  
"Are you sure? You haven't talked to me a whole lot..." she said forlornly. "I mean, I haven't seen you in so long... After you were- um- institutionalized..."  
  
"I'm fine, Yuffie," Squall replied firmly. Yuffie persisted.  
  
"But Squall-"  
  
"I said I was fine!" Squall snarled. "Why don't you go ask Laguna or Cid if they need your help?!"  
  
"Because, I want to know just what the hell is wrong with you!" Yuffie shot back quietly. Squall threw her a cold stare, and went upstairs again, slamming the door behind him. Even from downstairs, Yuffie heard the lock slide into place. Something was wrong...  
  
And, oh, something was indeed wrong, and Squall did know what it was. 'Yuffie lost her heart... And her heart was alive in me... My love for her brought her back... But when she got her heart back, she took it from me... I don't have her heart anymore, so I don't love her anymore...'  
  
Squall sighed, and whispered quietly, 'I vow... To never get close to anyone again... To prevent me from losing any more people, and causing me any more pain... I can't take it, so I won't...' And so, his fate was sealed. The man who chose to never love again... To miss out on life's greatest experiences, and greatest losses. 


	12. Chapter XI: Yesterday's Reprise, Part 2

**Chapter XI: Yesterday's Reprise, Part 2  
**_The Hollow Bastion, Five Years Earlier  
Flashback II: Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely_  
  
_'Raine, my darling Raine... Why, why did you leave...? You hadn't the chance to witness Squall's first words, first steps... Had not the chance to witness Ellone growing into a beautiful little girl... heh... Neither did I...'  
**-From the journal of Laguna Loire, dated thirteen years previous to the  
Sealing of Kingdom Hearts  
**_  
"Laguna, I love you very dearly, but this is getting ridiculous. You go home drunk every night, leave Ellone and Squall home alone, and feature bits of aggression when anyone mentions Raine. I'm afraid I've come to the decision to take Squall and Ellone away from you, and place them in a home." It pained Dalaar to say this to Laguna, as she sat on the high bench, looking down upon Laguna... But she had no choice.  
  
"Y-Your Majesty! I beg of you, please don't take them away!" He slammed his fist on the table across the bench, causing the mahogany wood to crack. Dalaar twitched some at this, for Laguna's undiluted anger is the exact reason why Dalaar had no choice but to take the children away from Laguna. She could just feel that he would soon turn violent on them. What she half- expected was attempted violence on her.  
  
Laguna stood, drew his pistol, and pointed it at Dalaar. "I'm sorry Your Highness, but I'm going to have to ask you to rethink your decision," Laguna threatened, cocking the dueling pistol. His hair was greasy, his eyes bloodshot, his hand trembling, his face sweaty. All symptoms of a lunatic about to do something rash.  
  
"Laguna, drop the gun. Now, before you do something you're going to regret." Dalaar replied calmly, putting her hands in the air.  
  
"You've already made the decision that you're going to regret, queen," Laguna growled.  
  
"I do not regret my decision," Dalaar responded firmly. Laguna charged towards Dalaar, who was prepared for this, and paralyzed Laguna with a quick spell. Then, she cast another spell, one that rose prison bars made of light, from the ground, surrounding the paralyzed Laguna in a miniature cell.  
  
Sighing heavily, she walked through the Bastion, coming to Vincent Valentine's home. She rapped on the door, lightly, her strength slowly leaving her. After a few tries at this, an extremely tired-looking Vincent opened the door. It looked like he hadn't shaved in several days, and his hair looked greasy and unwashed. All symptoms of a shell who hadn't let go of the past.  
  
"Vincent... We... I have a problem..." Dalaar let the words slither out, and it almost disgusted her- this was Laguna! This was a man who she had laughed with, laughed at, and a man she knew for the majority of her life! Dalaar shook her head, and Vincent stared at her with cold, gaunt eyes.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Not half an hour later, Laguna was in a cell, stripped of his dueling pistol that he had carried with him since... since Raine gave it to him... Laguna looked so pitiful in the cell... And the children- what were they going to do with them? She knew they had to place them in a home... Edea's perhaps? Dalaar couldn't think of this... Laguna, whom she had grown up knowing, and his kids whom she'd die for.  
  
Heck, Dalaar would die for anyone in the castle. Even Laguna, who'd tried to kill her... What did it matter? He lived here. People often wondered where true paradise lied... It was right here. No need to search any further- paradise was the Hollow Bastion, with the people.  
  
Ansem, no longer the prankster that the elderly citizens of the Hollow Bastion looked down upon, was now twenty-six years old, and was on the verge of becoming a scientist. More than on the verge, he had already done experiments on some of the more willing guards of the Hollow Bastion. He had done this in secret for all of his experiments ended in tragedy: the victim's heart always failed. And, yes, Ansem had tried to come up with a cure for this, but he had no choice but to contain the shells in the Depths of the Hollow Bastion, in the immense cliffs and chasms. But still... A scientist! He just finished writing another report to add to his collection:  
  
_"It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is.  
  
I shall conduct the following experiments:  
  
Extract the darkness from a person's heart. Cultivate darkness in a pure heart. Both suppress and amplify the darkness within. The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery.  
  
I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle. Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight.  
  
Creatures that seemed born of darkness... What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?"_

Ansem's assailant- erm, _assistant_, Doctor Amadeus Odine, who knew the most vast amount of knowledge of magick in the Bastion, was busily fumbling with a gadget, that Ansem couldn't quite describe. It was a disc, with many dials and needles and Ansem watched as the middle- aged man hunched over this contraption, until Odine lifted his head, and snapped in the direction of Ansem. "Yes? Vhat iz it?" Odine asked sharply. "What is that?" Ansem inquired, motioning to the disc. "Zis? Nuzzing important. You! You must find dat cure for ze victimz of your experimentz." "Fine, old man, keep your secrets. And I'm working as fast as I can to create a cure... From nothing..." "Anzem, you have everyzing you need. I have full faith zat you vill find a cure for ze people whoze hearts have collapsed. You vill find a cure." "I hope you're right, Odine. I pray to Hyne you're right."

----

Adel was disgruntled, to say the least. How was she supposed to teach magic, if her students did not show up?!  
  
"Foolish children," she muttered angrily. "How the hell do they expect me to choose an apprentice when both of them are unfashionably late?!"  
  
After a few more minutes of Adel drumming her fingers impatiently on her mahogany desk, Ellone clumsily stumbled into the room. Her cheeks were somewhat puffy and red, as if she'd been crying, but this was not Adel's job- Adel's job was to train her daughter Lulu, and Ellone all sorcery she knew, so that her successor would have the wisdom to be a sorceress.  
  
Edea was a fine candidate, but... she had recently married, and started an orphanage, so Adel didn't think it fair to Edea that she shatter that happiness with the burden of being a Sorceress.  
  
In any case, Ellone had taken her seat, and Lulu had briskly charged into the classroom, and sat in the remaining of the room's two desks. Adel stared at them both fiercely and asked, bitingly, "Are we all ready to begin?"  
  
"Yes, Sorceress Adel," replied Ellone immediately- whatever was troubling her before, she had hidden it well.  
  
"Sorry I'm late, Mother, I-"  
  
"Lulu, we both know I do not tolerate excuses. Now... I have taught you both many things. And against all my objection, the queen is imploring me to make a decision tomorrow, of whom I going to choose as my successor."  
  
"Mother, I think we both know, that it is I who should-"  
  
"Lulu..." Dalaar sighed, cutting her daughter off, "Assuming and presuming seems to be one of the only things you're good for. I don't know if it's that Ellone is more mature than you are, but I think we both know now, that I'm choosing her today."  
  
"What?! Mother, you can't-"  
  
"There you go again, Lulu, assuming that I can't, when it is I who holds all power, and it will be Ellone who will receive that power. Now, go home Lulu. Get out of here, now."  
  
In Lulu's eyes was a raging fire, a torrent from the darkest places of her soul. That fire followed her as she stormed out of the classroom, and ignited her physically, as well as mentally, on her way home. Although only eleven years old, Lulu was tasting darkness, and she was lit aflame, with calm, green, unburning embers.  
  
'Believe me Mother... I promise that I'll be your successor... And there is nothing you can do about it...'

---  
  
Dalaar was weary. After entrusting Princess Kairi to Ma Dincht for the next few days, she hoped to get some much-needed rest. Ever since that day, ten years earlier, when she lifted the monstrous Hojo, and then changed the vampire Vincent back to his human form, she never seemed to get her energy back.  
  
Of course, she never told anybody this, not even her brother Ansem, she didn't want them worrying needlessly. After all, she was fine. Really! She still had energy... Perhaps not as much as she used to, but she was pushing thirty. She was getting older. But, in retrospect, Ma Dincht was taking care of children for around ten years now, and had all the energy in the world for it, and then some.  
  
She sighed, and slowly laid herself across the bed. Putting thoughts of Kairi's father out of her mind- he was a man she never wanted to think about again- she started to think about what Kairi would be like in the future. What kind of woman she'd become. If she would make a wise ruler... Pondering these things and more, her thoughts slowed down, and she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

---  
  
Ellone was... coping. After all, her entire life had changed today, and in more ways than one. She had moved out of Laguna's house, and into Edea's orphanage, she and Squall, and now she had just been chosen to become the next in a long line of sorceresses.  
  
"I can do this," she said to herself, walking back to Edea's orphanage. "I can do this. I'm fine. Everything is fine."  
  
It goes without saying, of course, that nothing was fine.

---  
  
"She didn't choose me?! Why didn't she choose me?!" She wasn't screaming- screaming was below Lulu. She handled things calmly, but the way she handled things usually went to the extreme. This way of things handled being a prime example.  
  
Lulu was furiously writing down a spell, a spell to cast on her mother. Her raven strings of hair fell onto the paper, like black blood, spilling onto the parchment. Once the spell was finished, Lulu lifted her head up quickly, looking at the spell. She calmed herself on the inside, let all emotions balance themselves out, and read:  
  
"Forces of Fate,  
Prophets of Time,  
From my hate,  
Punish the crime.  
Hear my cries,  
Let her see,  
With knowing eyes,  
She, who's worthy.  
Power without fail,  
Magick to cause,  
A rain of red hail,  
To break ancient laws.  
I beg you to hear,  
For power is lust,  
To control all fear,  
And turn all to dust."  
  
Several seconds passed, Lulu breathing heavily, and nothing happened. She sighed in light despair, and crumbled up the parchment, tossing it out her window. "Fine," Lulu said half to herself, half to the Mighty Forces, "that's the way you want to play it? Fine. I'll find more conventional ways of getting power. I'll- Ugh!"  
  
Lulu had no idea what had happened, all she knew was, was that she was in pain. Her back burned with a fiery intensity that she had never known. Lulu fell forward from the impact of the blow, and propped herself up using her elbow to turn and see her mother.

---  
  
A guard, Randall Halcyon, stumbled into Dalaar's quarters, not bothering to knock. Dalaar, tiredly, sat up, and looked at the guard in worry, for- well, he was missing an arm. And a good chunk of flesh had been taken out of his left leg.  
  
"Your... Magesty..."  
  
"Lieutenant Halcyon, what happened?!" Dalaar asked, weakly getting to her feet and walking, slowly, to the injured soldier. Halcyon collapsed on the carpet, blood spilling from his wounds.  
  
Dalaar calmed spirit, and balanced out her emotions, and as she concentrated, Halcyon's wounds closed, but the flesh did not regenerate, and he stood, almost as frailly as Dalaar as his body became accustomed to the rapid healing.  
  
"Now, Lieutenant Halcyon, tell me: what happened?"  
  
"It's Sorceress Adel, Your Majesty. She- She's gone insane," Halcyon explained, looking down at the blood-stained carpet.  
  
"I-Insane? Wh-What do you mean insane? How did this happen?!" Dalaar asked, near hysteria. As she lost control of her emotions, Halcyon's wounds slowly opened up again, though Dalaar was too distressed to notice.  
  
"We-we're not sure, Your Majesty," Halcyon said nervously, and in too much pain to feel anything.  
  
"Alright, alright. What has she done so far?"  
  
"Um... She's... She's killed, Majesty," Halcyon said hoarsely.  
  
"Killed?" Dalaar asked, her voice seething with concern. "Killed who, who's dead?"  
  
"Uh, my unit, a few citizens..."  
  
"Alright. We need a plan to contain Adel. Get my brother, Odine, and Vincent Valentine here now. I want the rest of the castle to be evacuated to the dungeons of the castle. And I-"  
  
Dalaar couldn't finish her sentence- as her focus collapsed, her spell had reversed itself, for she didn't keep her spirit balanced enough for the spell to finish finalizing itself. Randall Halcyon's wounds opened once more, and Dalaar had to turn away as he died...  
  
"Oh Hyne..." she whispered to herself, "And he had a son!" A shudder tore through Dalaar, almost making her fragile figure collapse. Dalaar, not directly looking at Randall Halcyon, father of Zack Halcyon, stepped over him, and walked, as briskly as she could out of her quarters to find-  
  
"Ansem!" Dalaar cried upon seeing her younger brother.  
  
"Dalaar! I came as soon as I heard-"  
  
"Ansem, what's happened?!"  
  
"I don't know. Adel must have done something though- she's casting some of the Darkest Magicks, the most forbidden spells. Dalaar- I saw her perform a crucifixion on Rutherford Almasy in an instant."  
  
"Ansem, we need Odine. He might know how to stop Adel, where is he?"  
  
"Well, I, um, don't know..."  
  
"What?! Where can he be now?!"

---

Amadeus Odine strolled into the cave. In this cave, there was a bed, a dresser, a sword, and a few rather thick books, resting on a table. Resting on the bed, was a boy. A boy with spiky blonde hair, azure blue eyes, and plain maroon clothes.  
  
"Cloud! Cloud Strife, vake up!" Odine yelled. The boy sat, bolt upright, in the bed, terror flashing in his eyes, as if he'd been dreaming.  
  
"What?! What is it, father?!"  
  
"Bah! I'm not your fazzer, boy! I am Doctaire Odine!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Doctor. You... you awoke me from a dream... I forgot myself." Odine's mood changed immediately.  
  
"Dream? Really? Vhat happened in zis dream?"  
  
"Darkness... I saw a woman... Darkness, and Power. She was consumed with it...." the boy, Cloud, replied, breathing heavily.  
  
"How did zis happen?" Odine asked, scrambling through the piles of books, finding a piece of parchment and a pen.  
  
"Her- her daughter... She... was vengeful... angry... She- she wanted the power for herself, but... she cast a spell. A spell to 'let her see'... her mother's eyes... But... the spell... it made the mother see that she was the only one who deserved power... power to... ugh... 'power to force one thousand cries'..." the boy struggled to remember. "Then... then she just started to kill... Fath- doctor. When you go back up, be careful. This woman is a dark force to be reckoned with."  
  
"Yes... Zank you, Cloud. But, if I don't return... Wait here. Wait for ze ultimate darkness to come. Becauze it vill. Vhen you start to see it clearly, zurface. But do not vait too long, or else it vill be too late."  
  
"I won't, doctor. I will prevent this world from falling into darkness," Cloud said, bravely, yet... fearful at the same time. Almost uncertain...  
  
"Yes, vell... Good luck. You vere, my best finding evaire. Ve vill save zis vorld. I promise."

---  
  
Guards were frantic, placing people in the dungeon to hide them, but of course, nobody could hide from Adel too terribly long...  
  
Ansem was down there, idly throwing glances at people who bore resemblances to his sister, and avoiding death, of course, was his primary objective was to speak to Laguna. And, Ansem found Laguna, and stood in front of his cell.  
  
"Well, well... Laguna... The one person I never thought would have tried to kill my sister."  
  
"I would suppose that makes two of us then..." Laguna replied bitterly. "Look, sire, I'm sorry I tried to kill Queen Dal-"  
  
"YOU DON'T GET TO SAY HER NAME!!!" Ansem yelled, grabbing the bars of Laguna's cell, and attracting much attention to himself.  
  
"Alright, fine. I'm sorry I tried to kill Her Majesty, but... well... there's something. I want out." "What?!" Ansem said incredulously, staring at Laguna as if he were from a different world, "Impossible! I don't care if you can-"  
  
"I know what's going on up above. And I know how to stop Adel."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Quid pro quo, sire, this for that: I want out of this cell for good, before I tell you anything."  
  
"No," Ansem said firmly, "There is no possible way you are getting out of that cell alive."  
  
"Then it looks like your sister will meet a tragic end today," Laguna said forlornly.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ansem asked suspiciously. Laguna grabbed a rather large book from the end of his bed and held it up for Ansem to read the title. "'Mava, Volume I'... What is this?"  
  
"A book that I requested from the library. It has some very interesting things. Like... The Death of Sorceress Queen Dalaar. Also known as, Chapter seven." Ansem grabbed the book, and looked at the table of contents:  
  
Chapter IV: The Arrival of Darkness....................................................183 Chapter V: Seekers of Knowledge........................................................198 Chapter VI: Insanity's Requiem............................................................217 Chapter VII: Death of the Sorceress....................................................229  
  
Ansem turned to the page 'Death of the Sorceress' started on, but found there was no Chapter VII. He looked to Laguna who held a handful of ashes, and looked at Ansem slyly.  
  
"You burnt the pages, didn't you?" Ansem asked, throwing the tome between the bars.  
  
"Yes. But, for the small price of letting me out of prison, I will tell you what Chapter seven was all about, and you have my vow as-"  
  
"Your vows mean nothing, Laguna," Ansem spat. His face glistened in dim light with sweat. "You tried to kill my sister! That isn't something easily forgiven! If Dalaar wasn't so soft in these matters... You'd get what you truly deserve... But for now..." Ansem produced a key ring from his trousers pocket, found the key he needed, and unlocked Laguna's cell. Ansem opened the door, and Laguna skittered out of his cell, looking around, somewhat nervously, as some were giving him dark glares.  
  
Turning Laguna to face him Ansem whispered very quietly, "Now what do you know?"

---  
  
Power... Power is Eden...  
Not Light...  
Not Darkness...  
Power.  
And Only Power.  
Love  
Hate  
Vengeacne  
Compassion  
All brought to their knees by Power.  
I am Sorceress Adel.  
I Am Power.

---  
  
Odine rushed into the dungeon, only barely escaping Adel's view. He rushed to Ansem and Laguna, and was brought up to speed.  
  
"Prophezy? What prophesy?"  
  
"In Mava, apparently," Ansem explained dryly.  
  
"Vhat duz it zay?"  
  
"Well, you see, the prophecy went something like this: 'The Queen will confront the Sorceress, and will be struck down. The Sorceress will take her power, and will be locked.'"  
  
"That's a bit vague," Ansem grunted.  
  
"Actually, no, it iz not. Dalaar will confront Adel. Adel vill kill her, and take her power, and she vill be 'locked'," Odine explained, rather urgently.  
  
"Dalaar... will die... No, that won't happen," Ansem said, mainly to himself.  
  
"No, you don't get it. Most of the prophecies in that book have already come to pass. Hojo's power trip? Yeah, in the book. As was Sephiroth's birth for some reason."  
  
"I zink ze prophesy may already be undervay..."  
  
"What do you mean?" Ansem asked sharply.  
  
"I zaw ze queen going towardz Adel. I tried to stop her, but she ignored me- "  
  
"Oh, Hyne... no..." Ansem ran out of the dungeon, through the halls of stone, taking the levitating lifts, walking down cobblestone streets. He heard nothing. Everything was inaudible. What little sound he did hear echoed, as he reached the Entrance Hall, and saw his sister, and a friend, battling. Adel was obviously winning, as Dalaar, though looking stronger than she had in years, still looked ragged and still looked tired.  
  
"Adel..." Dalaar whispered.  
  
"Dalaar... If this is the part where you offer me the chance to redeem myself, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to skip it," Adel said, her eyes solid obsidian stones, her red hair burning with fires of rage. Her robes were aflame with green.  
  
"A second chance? Too late for that, Adel. I've come to kill you," Dalaar said, and as she did, Dalaar's own inner demon was unleashed.  
  
Ansem watched in horror, as his sister grew hawk-like talons, and angel wings with charred feathers ripped their way out of her back. Horns split out of her skull, and she was a harpy-creature, alit with green flames.  
  
"D-D-Dalaar..." Ansem whispered weakly, his legs giving way. The Sorceresses fought with magic, and their own bestial attributes now. Dalaar's talons tore off Adel's flesh in strips, and Adel's magic singed Dalaar's flawless face.  
  
Finally, though Adel had finally tired, Dalaar collapsed first, in a heap of blood, flesh, and torn robes. Adel, breathless, cackled maniacally.  
  
"Well, well. We finally know who holds true power. With that out there, I see no point in you living," Adel said, materializing a stone cross, and blasting it on the wall. With no strength to stop her, Adel levitated Dalaar, melded her ankles together, outstretched her arms, and held her against the cross. Adel conjured three red-hot iron spikes, and drove them into each of Dalaar's wrists, and the largest into her merged ankles.  
  
Ansem stopped staring at his sister, being tortured in crucifixion, and turned his attention to Adel. He walked briskly toward her, never breaking stride, and while Adel was watching Dalaar, Ansem planted a well-placed elbow to the side of Adel's face. She fell over from the force of the attack, and Ansem kicked her in the same place. Adel rolled over on the stone floor, and stood. She walked towards Ansem and tossed him into the opposite wall of Dalaar. Here, Ansem saw she was still alive, the Harpy- like attributes and green flames had left her. And she still had strength.  
  
Dalaar, using magick of course, ripped the spikes from her wrists and ankles, and broke the flesh bond of her ankles. She fell to the floor, but, with an inexorable will to live, she forced the spikes into Adel's back.  
  
"What is with you, Dalaar?! You. Are. Going. To. Die! There is no stopping it!" Adel screeched, the spikes seeming to not faze her. Adel snapped her fingers, and the bloody spikes evaporated. "You think you can hurt me with my own magick?"  
  
"I don't care how I hurt you anymore, Adel, just as long as I get it done. Ansem, get out of here, now!" Dalaar ordered. "You too, Edea!" Ansem and Adel turned to see the newly-wedded Edea Kramer, complete with black dress, and purple cape. She had  
  
"Edea, what are you doing here?!" Adel asked, grinning. "Have you come for punishment as well?! 'Cause I would be more than happy to oblige!"  
  
A jet of black flames rushed toward Edea, who sidestepped them easily. Ansem tackled Adel before she had a chance to try again, but Adel, conjuring an athame, planted it deep into Ansem's torso. Ansem's eyes widened as the knife entered his body, and he felt blood seep out.  
  
The blood came out in intervals, in perfect synchronicity with his heartbeat- he thought it was interesting. That was his last thought before he blacked out....  
  
"ANSEM!" Dalaar yelled, conjuring a large sickle, and charging at Adel, twirling the blade over her head. Adel, with a slowed reaction time, had no time to prevent her head detaching itself from her neck, courtesy of Dalaar's scythe.  
  
Dalaar took a sigh of relief that was cut short due to Adel's head, slowly sliding to her neck. Dalaar looked to Ansem, concerned, and then to Edea.  
  
"You came."  
  
"Yes, Your Majesty, and I'm ready to take your power," Edea said firmly. "We discussed this, and I am ready."  
  
Dalaar nodded, wincing in pain, "Good... Good..." she whispered weakly. Standing on her own two feet, Adel's regeneration imminent, Dalaar joined hands with Edea, and both closed their eyes.  
  
Dalaar, willing to let go of her power, let it flow into Edea, and Edea, willing to accept this power, let it flow into herself. Dalaar collapsed, one final time, and for a moment, Edea was dizzy, and she swayed for a moment, swooning in a split second of delirium... But then the severity of her predicament struck her, and she watched as Adel, head reattached, stood.  
  
Edea whispered one last goodbye to ran towards the library that would lead to the dungeons- but not before she got her own strike at Adel. Adjusting to her new power, Edea conjured two very large spikes of ice, and sent them into Adel.  
  
_'I'm sorry, majesties...'_ Edea thought as she ran through the library, _'... but I promise to wreak vengeance upon Adel...'  
_  
Adel, ripping the ice out of her body, turned to a weak Dalaar, who was breathing in short gasps, and was slowly dying.  
  
"Now... I believe you mentioned something of pain. Let's continue with that thought," Adel said. Before Dalaar could speak in objection, she was cocooned in a wooden box. "Long live the queen." The box was blazing with flames of black and red, flames that Adel danced around in circles, and Ansem, floating semi-conscious, in the Entrance Hall fountain, watched with glazed eyes.

---  
  
A tired Edea entered the dungeon, finding Laguna and Odine talking.  
  
"Edea, what's wrong?" Laguna asked. Edea looked at him oddly- she was one of those who sympathized with Laguna, but still... it was a bit awkward to talk to the man who had almost killed the woman who just instilled her with power, the woman who just died.  
  
"It... It's Queen Dalaar... Adel killed her..."  
  
"Ahhh, you see? Ze books vere correct! Adel killed ze queen! It iz a very sad event, but it vas fortold. Did she take ze queen's powers?" Odine asked urgently.  
  
"Ummm... no... It-it was something the queen and I talked about earlier. I received her powers," Dalaar said nervously.  
  
"Impossible! The prophezy fortold-"  
  
"No, it was right," Laguna interrupted. "Edea's mother, Sorceress Alexandria, passed her powers to Adel. Queen Dalaar's grandmother passed her powers to Dalaar. Now, they are all inter-related, in one familial relation or another, and so, technically, since Edea was a descendant of a Sorceress, she was destined to become one. As is Lulu, and Lady Kairi, and if Sid and Edea have a daughter, she will be destined to become one as well."  
  
"But... that's two sorceresses to pass on powers, and three girls to accept them," Edea replied.  
  
"Ahhh... Zat vould only be if you have a daughter. You may bear a son," Odine pointed out.  
  
"I see..." Edea thought for a moment. She loved children. Adored them. In fact, Ellone and Squall had only moved in with her yesterday. But... she didn't want to take the chance of Lulu or Lady Kairi dying. It was... unthinkable, and Edea was ashamed of herself. Having a child would put two other childrens' lives at risk... "So, what are we all going to do now?" Edea asked. "Adel is still on the rampage, and Prince- ummm... King Ansem was stabbed by Adel..."  
  
Odine looked sharply at Edea, narrowing his eyes. "Vhat?!"  
  
"Adel conjured an athame and stabbed King- His Majesty with it," Adel explained. What to call Ansem? He wasn't coronated yet, and there was Lady Kairi to deal with... She couldn't think about this now. Adel had to be stopped...  
  
"Hyne... Alright. We've got to find His Majesty as soon as we can. We can send Vincent up there to retrieve him, and distract Adel with-"Laguna's eyes lit up. Edea could tell he'd hit something in whatever brains he had. "We can seal her. If Dalaar couldn't kill her-"  
  
"Stop," Edea said quietly. "Just stop, alright?! This is Adel we're talking about! And Dalaar, and Adel is insane, Dalaar is dead, and Hyne-only-knows how Ansem is, and we're talking about killing Adel, and sealing Adel, and the queen is dead. We'll never talk to her again, or see her move, or anything!!" Tears shimmered in the corners of Edea's eyes now, and she ran into the crowd to find her husband.  
  
"Hyne... She's right... The queen is dead, isn't she...?" Laguna asked aloud. His shoulders slumped as the stark, naked thought sunk in. A fragmented sigh escaped his lips.  
  
"Eh, she finished ze job you started-"Odine's sentence was interrupted with a forceful punch from Laguna. His jaw was clenched, and his hand was wound into a trembling fist. Odine was taken aback for moment, and Laguna picked him up (he was a very small man) by his collar, and slammed him against the bars of a cell.  
  
"You listen to me, you sick, revolting sub-human. You will build a machine that will freeze Adel. You will also build an instrument to absorb her power. You will do these things, or I'll do things to you that'll make Adel look like a saint," Laguna threatened, letting Odine drop to the stone floor when he finished. Odine cowered in fear of Laguna, and skittered away, out of the dungeon and to his lab.

---  
  
Adel was... bored. Everybody was gone. Dalaar was dead. Ansem was dying. And everyone else she hadn't killed was-  
  
"Gone. Everybody is gone. Hiding, perhaps?" Adel asked herself, her lips curving into a sinister grin. "Time to go seek, then."

---  
  
After the sun had risen and set, Odine had finished the thing that would absorb Adel's powers. It was a brooch, that when touched by a Sorceress would immediately steal their powers. Odine was proud of this accomplishment, and held up his invention with pride, as it had taken him only a few hours to create it.  
  
He wondered how Cloud Strife was doing, but decided not to worry- the child was a survivor, if anything. He had been born, or created, or forged in the world's core, and had so much potential knowledge... If only the boy would let himself remember, he would be wiser than everyone in the castle combined.  
  
After a few more hours of planning, Odine had drawn up schematics of a containment chamber, that would- literally- freeze time for Adel. Now, the hard part was finding an ideal place to build it, and luring Adel there without being eviscerated. But, as every inventor, Odine loved a good challenge.

---  
  
Vincent Valentine tread ever so softly in the castle. He was alert of all his surroundings, and kept quiet to hear Adel's approaching footsteps. Creeping through the fortress, he finally came to the Entrance Hall, and saw Ansem- he was floating face-up in the fountain, the water a blood red.  
  
Vincent quickly went down the stairs, and kneeled next to the injured monarch, checking his pulse. It beat, but very weakly, and Ansem's eyes lolled in his skull to look at Vincent.  
  
"Vincent..." Ansem croaked softly.  
  
"Not now, Your Majesty. Save your energy. I'm taking you back to the dungeon. Sorceress Edea will then heal you, and, hopefully, the spell will hold long enough for you to be in perfect shape. As we speak, Odine is building a machine to stop Adel in the Depths."  
  
"That's.... good...." Ansem's voice was barely above a whisper, as Vincent picked the dying man up, and, keeping his eyes away from the pile of ashes in the center of the Entrance Hall, crept through the castle once more, taking Ansem back to the dungeon.  
  
Never in his entire life had Sephiroth Valentine been more terrified. Lulu's mom was coming, hunting for them, coming for him. And Lulu was missing. Queen Dalaar was already dead, and when his father brought Prince Ansem back, he saw that the wounded man was dying. Never more terrified, but, still, he'd never been more thrilled either.  
  
'Should I feel bad, that I feel great through all this death?' he thought to himself. Sephiroth decided not to think about. Thinking lead to places he didn't want to go.

---  
  
Odine, Laguna, and Edea were already in the Depths. Monstrous cliffs with countless caves and trails surrounded them, and the wind whipped at them in the dark chasm, where Odine's machine, a large stone pillar, resembling a sarcophagus, with various pipes and gears, was resting against the dead end of a cliff trail. Edea used her new powers to send up a beacon of light. Brilliant red, a crimson beacon Adel would surely not miss.  
  
Adel saw the small line of scarlet light rise from the Depths. She sensed people there, one of them holding great power... Power that Adel would use, and abuse. Only because she could.  
  
Without warning, Adel was There, standing next to Odine. She grabbed him by the throat, and tossed him over the side of the wide trail. His scream echoed for what seemed like centuries...  
  
"Well then. What have we here...? A sorceress and a not-murderer. How interesting..."  
  
"O, Glorious Adel, I present to you, this gift..." Laguna said, kneeling before Adel, holding the brooch. Adel, scoffed, obviously disappointed.  
  
"Honestly, did you think I'd fall for such a silly trick?" she asked slyly. Silently, Edea opened the door of the sarcophagus...  
  
"Hmmm..." Laguna considered for a moment. _"You're right... my ideas are always.... PERFECT!"_ Laguna shouted.   
  
With that, Laguna jammed the brooch into Adel's neck, and all power that she had gained rapidly seeped into the brooch. Adel stood, convulsing, only the whites of her eyes showing.  
  
When Laguna was sure the brooch had done its job, he pulled it out, and a weakened Adel looked into his eyes. Her eyes begged for compassion- compassion she'd not shown anyone. She whispered, "Take care of Lulu," and fell back into the sarcophagus.  
  
Edea quickly slammed the door, and Adel was frozen in time, and the long, hellish nightmare had ended. As Laguna looked over the cliff-side to see if Odine had got caught on any rocks, or such business, Edea fulfilled her promise to Dalaar and Ansem. Tapping into the darker magicks she discovered, she cast a spell that made Adel's sealing device a coffin of perpetual aguish. She would keep her conscious forever, never-aging, and living in never-ceasing pain. As Laguna gave up, and the two started back for the castle, Edea smiled wickedly, and her eyes glowed a dim green...

---  
  
Lulu, distraught, couldn't believe the force of one itty-bitty spell... thirty people dead... Nobody told her about everything her mother did. The other kids were terrified of her- except for Seifer, of course- and everyone knew that her mother had killed Queen Dalaar.  
  
"Interesting..." Lulu murmured to herself. It was late night, two days after her mother had vanished, and Lulu was holding the brooch Odine had made.  
  
She had snuck into Laguna's home and found the brooch. Edea- erm... Matron had told her that Laguna had something interesting... That he had something she couldn't receive for quite a while... She let slip that it was Adel's powers.  
  
"Well, well... This must hold mother's powers" Lulu whispered, holding the brooch in her palm. Power vibrated within it- power Lulu desperately wanted. "Hmph. I suppose it should only be proper that I inherit them," Lulu whispered to herself, as to not wake Laguna. Lulu thought for a moment, preparing a quick spell, and closed her eyes, whispering the spell her mind wrote only a few seconds ago.  
  
The effect was instantaneous. Too late for Laguna, who had got up to get a glass of water. He watched dumbly as the brooch glowed with brilliant white light, which soon faded. It took a few seconds for Laguna's groggy mind to register what just happened. When it did, the concept hit him with the force of a war-hammer.  
  
Lulu looked as if she were about to faint, and fell over, Laguna rushing over to catch her. As Lulu's eyes fought to stay open, she grinned one of her mother's trademarked grins. She saw Laguna's look of horror, and whispered weakly, "No worries, Laguna. I can take all this..." Lulu's eyes closed and she fell asleep, exhausted.  
  
Laguna took the liberty of carrying Lulu back to Edea's orphanage, her new home, and woke Edea.  
  
"I think we have a problem..."  
  
"What is it, Laguna?" Edea asked, yawning.  
  
"Lulu she found the brooch. I think she unlocked the power within."  
  
Edea stopped mid-yawn and looked at Laguna fiercely. "Please tell me you're joking."  
  
"Sorry... I brought her back home. It seems Fate sent her to live with you. Two fledgling sorceresses..."  
  
"Fate? Perhaps... Maybe we'll learn from each other..." Edea said wistfully.  
  
"Maybe... or maybe she'll kill all of you in your sleep..."  
  
Edea glared at Laguna and shook her head. "Do you want to see Ellone and Squall?"  
  
"Mm? No. It's... it's too soon..." Laguna said hoarsely, his throat going dry. "Mm.. Good night Edea."  
  
"'Night..."

---  
  
Dalaar's memorial was held a few days later, while Ansem was recovering from anemia. The ashes from Dalaar's cremation were placed in an urn, and placed in the family crypt with Ansem's ancestors, and the crypt was on that solitary meadow where Raine Leonhart-Loire, Remus Gast, and Lucrenia Valentine were laid to rest a decade earlier. More graves were added the day of Dalaar's memorial.  
  
As many of the people were mourning for their lost loved ones, a creature, small and black, with wriggling antennae and glowing yellow eyes. Ansem, despite his weakness, walked up to the creature, and stomped on it, tears streaming in his eyes. The creature moved around dizzily, and Ansem kicked it, sending it off of the island meadow, and into the icy ocean.  
  
_'How dare they?! How dare those... things, come here, and disturb us now?! And on consecrated ground?!?! Heartless bastards...'_ Ansem thought darkly, as he boarded a boat that would take him back to the castle.

---  
  
Ansem was... confused. Along with the death of his sister, the deaths of many of his people, his upcoming coronation, his research, and his weakening anemia, he now had a niece to raise.  
  
Lady Kairi was an orphan now, her mother killed and her father- well, the less said about him, the better. Ansem cradled the small baby in his arms.  
  
"You're all the family I have now, Kairi... But, no worries. Everything will be fine... Everything will be fine..."  
  
The trip to the cemetery changed Vincent. With another rampage, and another visit to Lucrecia, he realized how much time had passed. And that she wasn't coming back... And Sephiroth was suffering from it as well.  
  
He hadn't been there to support Seph, when children made fun of his wing, or when Seph wanted to do... anything. He'd been a fool... But no more.  
  
It was early one morning when Vincent cleaned his pistols, and went out for target practice, taking Sephiroth with him.

---  
  
It had been several weeks since then... And Cloud knew that he was alone. His fath- erm, Doctor Odine hadn't returned since he left...  
  
"He must surely be dead..." Cloud whispered, letting out a sigh afterwards. "I truly am all alone............. ....................... ...................... ....................... Rats."  
  
To survive after that, Cloud killed various cave and cliff-dwelling creatures for food. From the materials Odine left behind he made himself new clothes when necessary, and forged his own weapons. Trained with them. Trained for the coming darkness... and her...

---  
  
Ansem sat at his desk, glad to be getting his strength back, and dealing with his sister's death. But he remembered the memorial, and took a trip to the caves with Vincent Valentine, who'd reinstated himself as his guardian.  
  
There, they saw the creatures. One becoming two, two becoming four. Vincent killed as many as his bullets would allow, but the two had to retreat. While Vincent thought it was exhilarating, Ansem was terrified.

_"The shadows that crawl beneath the castle... Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination?  
  
All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart. Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples.  
  
They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name.  
  
Those who lack hearts... I will call them the Heartless."_

Ansem filed this as the third page, in his ongoing investigation. One that he started ten years ago. And would continue until the day he died.

---  
  
**Five Years Later**  
** The Hollow Bastion Depths**

****   
  
Gala trudged through the cliff trails, but could not find Yuffie. He was positive his granddaughter had perished, but he would not-

A loud noise from above interrupted his thoughts. As he looked up, he saw a large black thing, descending upon him. The large, metal object landed before him, on the summit of a cliff far from the Bastion. He heard the sound of machinery dying, and watched as a door opened, and a woman stepping out. She looked to be in her mid-thirties or mid-forties, and wore an excessive amount of makeup. She held a gold staff with a green orb levitating above it, and was exceptionally tall. Gala was speechless. Was this woman from another world...?

"Ahhh... This is it, isn't it? The Hollow Bastion?!" the woman asked, excited. Gala drew his sword, and took battle stance.

"Who are you?!"

"Mm? Oh, me? We'll get to that later. For now, I'm going to ask you to do me a favor- well... I'm not going to ask, for you have no choice in the matter..." Gala looked at the woman suspiciously, and he was suddenly lit aflame with green flames. Unburning flames, flames that felt evil, but still felt so _good_. The woman waved her staff in a horizontal arc, and a Heartless appeared. The Heartless looked to the woman, who pointed at Gala with her staff. Gala, who'd collapsed by now, and was writhing on the cliff top, suddenly became very sluggish as the Heartless entered Gala, through his mouth. A few moments passed, the green flames faded, and Gala stood, sword in hand. "Ahh... splendid. Well then, what I want you to do.... Ummm...?"

"Gala, Mistress," Gala replied in monotone.

"Gala. What I want you to do, Gala, is to travel to a world called 'China', and find a man named 'Shan-Yu' that he is acting too slowly. I want you to take his position, and find China's 'keyhole'. Kill Shan-Yu if necessary. What I have given you is the power to cross worlds, and the power to summon and control the Heartless. The Heartless in you will tell you how to find the Keyhole. When you find it, send for me."

"Yes, Mistress," Gala said, bowing.

"Oh, don't bother with bowing, Gala."

"Of course, I apologize. When I find Shan-Yu, who should I tell him this message is from?" Gala asked in monotone.

The woman started to walk away, and tossed back, "Tell him it is from 'Sorceress Maleficent'," before vanishing, setting off for the castle... and more importantly, the Keyhole.


	13. Chapter XII: Arrival of the Queen of Dar...

Chapter XII: Arrival of the Queen of Darkness  
"...Something Wicked this way comes..."  
-William Shakespeare;  
Macbeth, Second Witch  
***~~~*** Squall's sixteenth birthday came and went. A quiet and abrupt celebration was held, between the four shut-ins. Afterwards, Cid left for a few hours and returned with chunks of meteor rock.  
  
"What are you doing with all that?" Laguna asked, puzzled.  
  
"Building. I'll be in the basement, working. Don't bother me, unless there are extreme circumstances," Cid ordered, wheel-barrowing the rocks down the basement.  
  
"And what are 'extreme circumstances'?" Laguna asked.  
  
"Death, childbirth, or naked women, bearing lots of food and asking for pleasure," Cid called from downstairs. Laguna scoffed. Cid had been busy with the meteor rocks for the past several weeks, that he had hardly been helping for any assassination scenarios.  
  
And those were a flop. The best one they had was Laguna dressing as a woman, going to Ansem's bedchambers, seducing him, and getting him to drink poisoned wine. Needless to say, Laguna and Yuffie were the ones coming up with plots. Squall trained with his retrieved gunblade- the fiasco that nearly blew the group's cover- in the sewers, sneaking back inside during the night, and rising before dawn to retreat back in the sewers.  
  
While Yuffie was drawing up floor-plans of the castle by memory, and designing a nice dress she could make, Cid was in the basement, hammering away, Squall was in the sewers, and Laguna was staring hopelessly at Yuffie's drawings, a knock came at the door.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Cloud and Aerith were in a meadow, not too dissimilar from the cemetery meadow, and were laying in the grass, a rowboat docked at the shore. There were watching the starless sky, the purple and blue and green clouds above, and thinking..  
  
"What are you thinking about?" Aerith asked quietly, as if the clouds would eavesdrop if she weren't quiet.  
  
"Mm? Nothing, really..." Cloud responded slowly. But Cloud was lying. He was thinking of the woman who plagued his dreams for his entire childhood... The woman who stalked him in his nightmares, bringing darkness, demons, death... As Cloud grew older, he brushed the nightmares off as macabre, yet childish nightmares. But it was this exact moment when Cloud realized one simple truth- they weren't nightmares, they were premonitions.  
  
Thinking of the woman who was destined to help the 'One With Silver Hair' bring darkness, destined to arrive when the Hollow Bastion was at the pinnacle of its degeneration- it only meant one thing.... Sorceress Maleficent... She was here.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Ansem stared at the rotting book with awe. It showed a diagram of seven feminine figures, all in a line. Intersecting lines connected the figures hearts to one shape- a keyhole. The keyhole of the Hollow Bastion.  
  
"Y-You are dismissed, Sephiroth," Ansem ordered absently, staring at the book. Sephiroth bowed, and left the mad king's laboratory. The book told of seven "Princesses of Heart", seven maidens whose hearts would complete the Hollow Bastion's keyhole. The keyhole that would lead to the heart of Hollow Bastion.  
  
The heart of the a world, Ansem then deducted, held infinite knowledge- as the boy Cloud demonstrated the night he arrived. The boy born in the heart of the world, but too foolish to remember anything. He was useless.  
  
"Yes... that's it... I know what I must do..." Ansem muttered. He sat down at his desk to write one last report as a human.  
  
"Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart. Yes that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness.  
  
Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing. My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses.  
  
My body is too frail for such a journey, but I most do this.  
  
I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness."  
  
***~~~***  
  
Edea's orphanage was humble house, carved from stone, hanging on one side of the Bastion, overlooking the ocean, and the mountainous Depths in the distance. Beyond the Depths was the placid lake, dotted with island meadows, such as the one Aerith kept running off to with Cloud.  
  
It wasn't that Edea didn't trust Aerith- it was Cloud that made her nervous. After all, she didn't have "The Talk" with any of the kids, she'd just let them sort things out for themselves, and by now, she thought that all the kids knew the risks. But that wasn't what was preying on her mind at the moment.  
  
She was reading and heard a noise- a scratching outside. She put her book- a journal of one of the more sensual sorceresses in Bastionian history- down on the table next to her reading chair, and went outside to investigate. Scratch, scratch.  
  
It was dark, by now, and Edea could hardly see anything. She held out a finger and after a soft thwit, the tip of her index finger on her right hand glowed. Scratch, scratch.  
  
She held her finger out to the darkness of an alleyway next to her house and what Edea felt to be a response, watched as glowing orbs lit within the alley. Scratch, scratch.  
  
Curious, Edea walked to the edge of the alley, but jumped back as she saw the darkness move. With a shuddering realization, she knew that that was shadows- it was Shadows. Heartless. Scratch, scratch.  
  
Scratch, scratch.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Everyone in the house froze- except for Cid who didn't hear the first knock due to his incessant hammering- as another knock came at the door. Instinctively, Yuffie and Laguna went to the basement door, but discovered it was locked from the inside.  
  
Frantic, as another knock came, Yuffie and Laguna ran upstairs, and breathed softly as one more knock came, before the door opened. Right below them, the two could hear shoes walking slowly on the hardwood floors. They heard the basement doorknob rattle, and assumed the visitor discover it was locked. Then they heard footsteps walking up the steps. They saw the doorknob turn, and the door fly open to reveal a tall figure swathed in swooping black cloaks- no, not cloaks, but black dust, and the cloths that weren't swooping, but, crawling. As a black creature- a Heartless- was tossed to the ground, they saw an extremely pale face of Squall.  
  
"Help!" he choked.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Vincent Valentine sat in his darkened kitchen in his darkened house, and drank a cup of cold tea that just didn't seem to hit the spot. Knowing where everything was in the darkness, Vincent got up from the kitchen table, walked three steps to a cupboard, opened the door, and reached his hand in for a bottle of whiskey, but produced a large, soft, thing with glowing yellow eyes.  
***~~~***  
  
Five year-old Kairi lay in her bed, covers up to her chin, and watched in horror, as glowing yellow eyes surrounded her. Afraid of the monsters that come at night, she ducked under the covers, cocooning herself in silk and velvet, and wouldn't let anybody in.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Edea Kramer and Lulu Atchley had glowing hands. Hands that unleashed flames that burned the Heartless around them. Seifer Almasy and Zack Halcyon were doing fantastic sword attacks, turning all Heartless that came near them to black dust, invisible at night. Rufus Shinra and Fujin Seiken also held their own, also held their own, Sid Kramer backing them up with pistol fire.  
  
All battling in the street and alleyways next to the orphanage. The fire from Edea and Lulu was their own light. But that was all they needed, until dawn ripped through the horizon.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Immediately, Yuffie produced a shuriken, and threw it at the mass of Heartless that clung to Squall. One Heartless disintegrated into a cloud of black dust, a glowing heart rising and vanishing. Laguna dared not fire from his pistol, but instead, tried peeling the Heartless from Squall's body, and using well placed kicks to dispose of the creatures on the verge of devouring his son. The two killed the Heartless to a beat, a slow, steady rhythm of Cid's hammering.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Ansem was in the library, with Sephiroth, reading. The boy had come through again. A book, that had a list of significant worlds. In it, were names such as "Olympus Coliseum", "Twilight Town", but one really caught Ansem's eye- "The Ocean of All Worlds- Destiny Islands". And next to that, was a small icon of a key.  
  
This gave Ansem an idea for an experiment. Sinister it may be, to some, it was still necessary, for the pursuit of knowledge.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Vincent Valentine through the glowing-eyed monster to the floor, drew his pistol, and shot at the glowing eyes. It was over, and he saw a glowing heart rise a few feet above the floor, and vanish. Gave him quite a scare... Vincent found the whiskey bottle he was looking for to begin with, and started drinking from it.  
  
What Vincent didn't notice was the other twenty Heartless in his home, pumping a camouflaged black fog that slowly poisoned Vincent's heart and mind.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Squall sat at the bar, shivering. His gunblade lay on the floor next to him, caked with dust patches...  
  
"Here you go..." Yuffie said somberly, handing Squall a saucer and cup of tea. The china rattled as Squall's trembling hand accepted the china. He set the saucer on the bar, and drank the tea, spilling some as he brought the cup to his mouth.  
  
He had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and even from a distance, Yuffie could tell he was freezing. His skin was a pale grey, and black smudges were beneath his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in months. Laguna came down from upstairs, with another blanket which he took the liberty of wrapping around Squall.  
  
"Thank you," Squall mumbled quietly, still shuddering violently.  
  
"What happened down there?" Yuffie blurted out. Squall threw her a harsh glare in response, his ruffled chestnut hair, and white wool blankets making him look like an asylum patient.  
  
"There were so many of them... I killed them when they were in small numbers, at first... But today... it was incomparable... Something's happened, something's made them come up.  
  
"They surrounded me... Pounced on me... For several seconds, minutes, hours, they controlled, violated me, and made me come here... During that time, they showed me..."  
  
"Showed you what?" Laguna asked quietly, barely audible above Cid's working.  
  
"What they plan to do... Ansem is the least of our worries... I've seen them...All of them..." Squall muttered.  
  
The wind whistled in the Depths. The lower cliffs were out of view from the top, and it was at the very bottom were They were slowly waking, resonating with Her presence. In a combination of all Heartless that were waking and all that were still dormant, they had an army that lied somewhere in the millions.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Ansem was looking into the pub's basement window. He remember what urge forced him to go to the old pub, but right now it didn't matter... Upon seeing what was in there, he knew how to conduct his experiment... He composed a report page in his head.  
  
"In opening the door that stores a world's hearts, the wall around that world is broken down. We see this as a shooting star. Through this, I have been able to understand the reason why the material known as Gummi Blocks has the ability to allow travel to other worlds.  
  
The cause of a world's wall collapsing is the appearance of the Heartless, but finding a world's door takes time. And robbing a world of its heart is a similar case.  
  
If the door has been closed by the key known as the Keyblade, you probably cannot reach that world's heart again. Before the one with the Keyblade appears in this world, I must take measures to do something.  
  
Supposing that there is a close relationship between the Princesses and the Keyblade, it seems likely that they will resonate with each other...  
  
I have chosen one special girl. I do not know if she possesses a power like that of the Princesses. But, there is a chance, and this is an experiment. She may lead me to the place where the one holding the key is...  
  
I shall send her off to the ocean of other worlds."  
  
Rather than filing this report with the others, Ansem wrote it, but placed it within his robes. He then walked over to where his meteor rock samples were, and he began working.  
  
***~~~***  
  
It was a few hours past dawn, when Edea, Sid, and the rest of the kids were sitting in various places in the kitchen, all covered with black dust, all drinking one beverage or another, and everyone was talking excitedly. Everyone except Edea and Sid. They exchanged glances, and they knew. They knew this wasn't it. The worst was still to come.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Cloud and Aerith had fallen asleep next to each other in the meadow. The sun had broken over the cliffs, and as the sun hit their eyes, the two awoke. Aerith looked into Cloud's eyes, a brilliant green- almost identical to Seph's- and smiled.  
  
"Good morning," she whispered.  
  
"Good morning to you, too," Cloud replied, smiling back. The two kissed, and the sun continued to rise.  
  
***~~~***  
  
After sketching a set of blueprints, Ansem's real work began. He worked through the day, never-ceasing. He was going to conduct the experiment the next day, if it killed him.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Seifer walked through the waterways, and that is where she encountered the cloaked woman. His gunblade, the Hyperion, was already drawn, and he stood in his battle stance.  
  
"Who are you?!" he demanded. The woman, cloaked, smiled at him.  
  
"Shhh... It's alright, Seifer..." She crooned. Seifer looked at her fiercely, his resolve wavering.  
  
"H-How do you know my name?" he asked sharply.  
  
"Shhh... Don't worry about that... Put that down, there's no need for it..." the woman said softly.  
  
"Who are you?" Seifer asked, the Hyperion clattering to the damp floor.  
  
"I am Sorceress Maleficent. I have come here to halt the coming threat to the castle..."  
  
"Darkness?" Seifer asked. Maleficent laughed.  
  
"Oh no, silly boy. Darkness will be this castle's savior!" Maleficent replied, a black serpentine whisp of smoke sliding from her staff. The smoke slithered up Seifer's form, curling non-threateningly around his neck. "Light is the enemy! Blinding, piercing light!"  
  
Seifer became somewhat in a daze and swayed for a few seconds before asking, "What do you want?" Maleficent smiled once more, her eyes becoming a putrid yellow.  
  
"Just a little tour..." The smoke entered Seifer, going through his chest, wrapping itself around his heart.  
  
***~~~***  
  
As Ansem working, building, constructing, theorems formed in his mind, about the one with the Keyblade, the purpose of the experiment. The Keyblade, Kingdom Hearts, and the heart of this world. Shuddering of possibilities that would doom his pursuit of knowledge, Ansem worked harder.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Sephiroth had closed the last book. Now, he knew everything about everything. Beaming at his accomplishment, but still lusting for more, he set the book on the floor, and stood. As he turned to go home, a cloaked woman stood in his way.  
  
***~~~***  
  
Cid, after uncountable hours of working had finished. The fail-safe, in case something should go wrong, was complete, and he could rest. He walked upstairs to get some food and drink, and saw Squall, wrapped in blankets, and looking as if he hadn't even heard of a comb.  
  
Yuffie and Laguna were talking quietly in a corner. Upon noticing Cid, Yuffie frantically waved him over. Cid smiled at Squall, raised an eyebrow at Yuffie and walked over to the corner.  
  
"Yeah, what is it?" he asked.  
  
"You've been down there working for too long! You missed a lot!" Yuffie screeched quietly.  
  
"I'm sorry, alright! I was working on the fail-safe! Just fill me in on what I missed," Cid replied, holding his hands up in defense. And fill him in they did.  
  
***~~~***  
  
The next day, Ansem was pocketing an envelope and walked into Kairi's room. He heard quiet sniffling. Walking over to her bedside, he lifted up the covers and looked at the five year-old girl underneath, crying.  
  
"What's wrong, dear?" he asked sympathetically.  
  
"Uncle Ansem! The- The monsters! They wouldn't leave me alone!" she sobbed, wrapping her arms around her uncle's neck.  
  
"Shhh.... Shhh... It's alright, darling, they're gone now... Say... Do you want to go on a trip?" he asked her, smiling. Kairi wiped her tears away and gave one last sniff.  
  
"You mean like to Grandma's?" Kairi asked. "Grandma" is what she called Ma Dincht.  
  
"No, someplace far, far away. How's that sound?" Ansem asked.  
  
"Can you come with me?" the child asked hopefully.  
  
"I'm sorry, darling, I can't, but I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends!" Ansem said excitedly.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah... There's someone in particular I really hope you meet... Here..." Ansem produced the envelope and gave it to Kairi. "Hang onto this. When you get to where you're going, give this to their king, alright?"  
  
"Alright, Uncle Ansem..."  
  
"Alright, now you need to get dressed! And to pack whatever you want to take, okay?"  
  
"Okay!" she said, obviously excited as children tend to get when they go somewhere new.  
  
Ansem left the room, and walked out to the balcony of his bedchambers, where he'd ordered the craft be delivered. He finished tweaking what needed to be tweaked, set the coordinates for the Destiny Islands, and started it up.  
  
When Ansem returned to Kairi's room, he found her dressed in a white shirt and baby blue skirt, and was carrying a small leather rucksack, packed full of clothes and toys. He never noticed how much she looked like Dalaar... But that did not matter to the experiment.  
  
"Are you ready?" he asked, smiling broadly. She grinned and nodded. He held her hand as they walked down the hall, into Ansem's bedchambers, and onto the marble balcony, where Kairi's destiny awaited her. "Now, don't forget, look for the Keyblade Master, alright? And it's very important you do not touch any of these controls, alright?"  
  
"Alright! Uncle Ansem... I love you! And I'll miss you! And, and, and... I'm really scared..." the little girl said. Ansem smiled warmly as he helped Kairi into the craft, which strongly resembled an egg, with a door. As Ansem got Kairi situated within the flying craft, fastening her in, in case of a crash, tears slowly slid down Kairi's cheeks.  
  
"Hey, don't be scared! You're a big girl! And big, brave girl! And besides... I'm positive we'll see each other again," Ansem reassured, kissing the girl on her cheek.  
  
"Goodbye, Uncle Ansem!"  
  
"Goodbye, Kairi... And good luck..." Reaching inside, Ansem pressed a button marked "Launch", and closed the door, waving to his niece. Ansem took a few steps back as the egg slowly ascended from the balcony, and was catapulted into the sky. Ansem watched for a long time, until the gummi craft was no longer in sight. That was when she showed up.  
  
"Do you regret sending off your only blood-kin?" the woman asked.  
  
"No... It is for the sake of knowledge..." Ansem replied, still looking at the sky.  
  
"Ahhh... I suppose you want to know who I am..." The woman said, looking up at the sky, which had began to darken.  
  
"It would be a nice gesture..."  
  
"I am Sorceress Maleficent- the one who will be conquering your world now," the woman replied, smirking as much as one could.  
  
"Ahhh... Yes... Rather than a battle of which I would surely disintegrate, I am giving you my world. I have done all I can do bound to this mortal coil.... I only ask one favor of you."  
  
"And what is that?" Maleficent asked, intrigued.  
  
"Tell my people that I disappeared. Don't tell them where I am going..."  
  
"Are you afraid they will follow you?"  
  
"No. I am afraid they will achieve an astral state before I. Leave me in peace, and I shall give you this world."  
  
"Hmmm... A bargain... Yes... Alright. We have come to an agreement, King Ansem. I will seize this world in the name of darkness. I bid you a safe journey."  
  
Ansem nodded, and left the sorceress alone on the balcony.  
  
And he walked. And rowed, and walked some more. Ansem found himself back at the memorial of Tetsuya Nomura, the Hollow Bastion's first king. He gave a slight nod to the degraded memorial of the king, and Ansem jumped over the cliff, plunging into the everlasting darkness below. 


	14. Chapter XIII: Enter Oblivion

**Author's Notes**  
Well, here we are. It's been quite a journey... From an Aerith who was  
lovesick for Sephiroth, to an Aerith who is in love with Cloud. A  
happy and cheerful Yuffie, to a bitter and glum Yuffie. A somewhat  
normal Seph to a more than somewhat crazy Seph. A knowledge seeking  
Ansem to an Ansem that isn't exactly human- or alive- anymore. And a  
silent, somber Squall to- well, never mind. We've gone back to the  
history of the Hollow Bastion, from the metamorphosis of Hojo, to the  
"power trip" (giggles See what I did there?) of Sorceress Adel, and  
here to Hollow Bastion's own little Apocalypse. And so, here we are.  
The Final Battle.  
  
**Chapter XIII: Enter Oblivion**  
_**"I've never seen a bluer sky. I can feel it reaching out, and moving  
closer... Everything is clearer now. Life is just a dream, you know. It's  
never-ending... I'm Ascending..."  
-Yoko Kanno; "Blue"  
**_  
Things were... boring. Sephiroth had read every book in the Hollow Bastion's library... Is that all that there was...? Read every book in the library, and drift mindlessly through a pointless existence, and suddenly be snuffed out as if you'd never been real at all? Beaming slightly at his accomplishment, but still lusting for more knowledge, Sephiroth stood, to go home.  
  
'No... I've learned so much... I know other worlds exist... How do I reach them?! How do I leave?! I refuse to let my knowledge decay as I grow older and older... Beings like me... They were meant to be immortal... They... I... We were meant to be Gods.'  
  
"So... That's it, is it?" The woman stood in the doorway of the library. "You want to be immortal... to travel... to not let your knowledge go to waste..."  
  
"Who are you?" Sephiroth demanded firmly, his hand going for his blade, the Masamune, for the first time in months.  
  
"Someone who can give you what you want..." The woman offered. "... I know your dreams, hopes, aspirations... I can grant them all. Just ask the boy, Sir Seifer Almasy..."  
  
"Seifer?" Sephiroth blurted out incredulously. "That fool would jump at the chance to be the puppet of any woman promising him a life other than to become an alcoholic, drowning his non-accomplishments in diluted whiskey."  
  
"You underestimate his power. His code of honor gives him a strong heart... Much stronger than yours..." Sephiroth snarled at the woman's remark.  
  
"Absurd! I know much more than that mediocre swordsman could hope to learn in a millennium!"  
  
"That wasn't what I said..." The woman replied, grinning broadly. "I said he had a stronger heart... He is very powerful... Power that I suppose you want?"  
  
"Knowledge is power. And I have an abundance in that," Sephiroth smirked.  
  
"Fool... Power goes hand-in-hand with the strength of one's heart, not their mind."  
  
"Hmmm... What would I have to do to gain a stronger heart?" Sephiroth inquired, only to humor the insane newcomer's ridiculous theory.  
  
"Simply open your heart to the darkness. Let it flow through your being..." the woman instructed. Sephiroth closed his eyes, and began to think thoughts that only one who'd been exposed to the evils of mankind could think. He opened his eyes, and found himself covered in flames of green. His eyes widened in surprise, and the flames began to fade.  
  
"No! You've been here before, and you've always fled! Don't flee, embrace!" the woman shrieked, pointing a staff fiercely in Sephiroth's face. Sephiroth closed his eyes once more, and didn't notice a writhing shadow slip from the woman's staff, and into his torso.  
  
"I can feel it..." Sephiroth muttered. "Power screaming through me..." Sephiroth drew the Masamune, the blade that was as long as he was tall (which was well over six feet). "What do you want me to do?"  
  
"Help me guide my army to consume this world. After what King Ansem called 'Heartless' overrun this world, cleansing it of humanity, we must look for the 'Princesses of Heart' to complete this world's keyhole. Beyond that lies the heart of this world, and untold knowledge, making this archive seem to be a mere child's library."  
  
"Agreed," Sephiroth replied in monotone after a few seconds' consideration. "I will be a general for your army. But in return I want access to vast knowledge. Ten-fold that of this archive."  
  
"That can be arranged... I have many books back in my world... And my world's keyhole was found, and the heart of the world exposed, which gave me much knowledge- including how to find this place..."  
  
"I see... Alright. Now what?"

is this a report  
  
yes i believe it is  
  
_"I have transcended to an existence of only the heart. I should have come back as a Heartless, but there is no sign of such a transformation.  
  
My body has surely perished. However, I am different from the other Heartless, keeping the memories of before, and I have not taken on the form of a Heartless. It is clear that there are still many things to be studied.  
  
In order to cross over to the dark side, which is not this world, you must go beyond the door of Kingdom Hearts, the place connected to the world's heart.  
  
The innermost part connected to the world's heart, the place connecting to the world of darkness. (I will record the details in another report...)  
  
There are still so many unknown worlds.  
  
The present world.  
  
The world of darkness.  
  
The world of light.  
  
And,  
  
The world in-between.  
  
Where does the true paradise lie, I wonder?"__   
  
_  
Three days after Squall's Vision, he, Yuffie, and Laguna sparred for hours on end, never-ceasing, training through weariness.  
  
"You three... I don't know why you bother... You're only tiring yourselves out, y'know. What if the castle was flooded with Heartless tomorrow? You'd be too exhausted to fight!" Cid said gruffly, arms crossed.  
  
Squall, bruised all over, replied acidly, "At least we're making an effort, Cid"- he warded off an attack from Yuffie, who was glowering at him, possibly for his distance from her- "what're you doing to help?"  
  
Cid snorted in indignation. "I've done my part, I made the fail-safe for when you all fail."  
  
"No need for negativity, Cid," Yuffie shot back, her already dark eyes made darker from sleep deprivation and a botched attack from Laguna. "We've got enough to worry about without having you tell how much we suck, and how you're wonderful for building the fail-safe for when- if- we fail." She added the "if" with a wince, cursing herself for allowing Cid to infect her with pessimism. She ducked as Squall swung a detached chair leg at her face, which was as bruised as Squall's.  
  
"Cid, if you've nothing better to add than your stupid fail-safe to the conversation, then leave. Make us lunch or something," Laguna ordered, kicking Squall in the ribs, grimacing in remorse as he did so. In retaliation, Squall turned and thrust his palm into Laguna's face, which sent him stumbling back, and gave him a bloody nose. The vermillion torrents of liquid at least gave color to Laguna's pasty face...  
  
Cid's nostrils flared and he stomped downstairs to the kitchen- the trio was training in the bedroom because the basement was crowded- muttering expletives bitterly as he left. The three, taking a short break for recovery, all glared at each other. If the Heartless didn't kill them, they'd surely kill each other.The woman appeared without warning in Vincent's bedroom. Vincent lay there, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. He looked at the robed woman, snarled, grabbed his pistol, and shot the woman.  
  
The woman, expecting this reaction to her unannounced arrival, waved her hand, and the bullet became a wisp of black smoke (though how one could tell was nearly impossible, as the sun had set, and Vincent's house was littered with Heartless, all producing a black fog that had settled to be waist-high).  
  
"Who are you?" Vincent asked, his voice horribly distorted- deeper, warbled, as if he were speaking underwater.  
  
"Sorceress Maleficent. Queen of this realm," Maleficent replied.  
  
"Ansem is the ruler here," Vincent snarled, "I am his Guardian." Maleficent scoffed.  
  
"Ansem is dead. And you are a pathetic excuse of a Guardian, a drunken layabout, grieving because his son no longer loves him."  
  
Vincent's glazed eyes showed no emotion. "You'd do well to keep quiet about me and my son."  
  
"What if I said I could reunite you with your son?" Maleficent asked, smiling seductively. Again, Vincent revealed no emotion.  
  
"I'd tell you to go to hell, and then I would shoot you again. I'll not be swayed to your side, you bestial wench. Leave my home, for staying will prove to be fatal," Vincent threatened, not moving a muscle.  
  
Maleficent growled in contempt, and vanished, leaving Vincent's to his thoughts, which were growing darker by the minute.Cloud and Aerith were walking around the castle, and were somewhere near the chapel. Cloud was shaking.  
  
"Are you cold?" Aerith asked, smiling. "We could go somewhere else if you-"  
  
"I'm fine," Cloud mumbled bitterly. Aerith arched an eyebrow in surprise at Cloud's crankiness.  
  
"Are you sure? I mean-"  
  
"I said I'm fine!" Cloud growled, cutting Aerith off. Aerith scowled at him.  
  
"You know, I was only-"  
  
"JUST SHUT UP, ALRIGHT?!?! I SAID I'M-"Cloud's rant was interrupted by a slap from Aerith.  
  
"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT 'WHAT YOU SAID'!!! WHEN I SPEAK, YOU WILL NOT INTERRUPT ME, AND- ohhh..." Aerith collapsed. She hit the floor hard, her head smacking against the blue stained marble. Her eyes remained open.  
  
"Aerith! Are you alright?!" Cloud yelled, alarmed, kneeling at her side. Aerith turned her face to Cloud, and weakly raised a hand to his face- then sliced his cheek with the elongated fingernail that jutted out from above her index finger. Cloud's cut bled, dripping onto Aerith's pink gown, and his lip quivered.

From the stone rafters above, Maleficent watched, pleased with herself. So much distress here in these halls... As she was about to leave to cause mischief elsewhere, from the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the boy's sword, strapped across his back.  
  
"Buster Swor-"She started, but when she whipped her head in the boy's direction to get a better look, Maleficent fell from the rafters, and hit the floor.

Cloud's attention was diverted from Aerith to the woman. He looked at her, and he Saw her. He stood, ran to her side, and looked once more. Her face had a green tint to it, and large, demon-like horns grew from her head. A staff was gripped in her hand.  
  
It was her... Cloud clenched his fists, unclenched them, and then put them around Maleficent's neck, squeezing as hard as he could.

Seifer and Lulu were in the Depths. Seifer lead the way down a narrow path on a cliffside. Lulu grumpily followed.  
  
"Seifer, what are we doing here?" Lulu asked sharply.  
  
"You'll see..." Seifer replied vaguely, "You'll see..." The two walked for several more minutes, until the path widened to become a rather large ledge.  
  
"Okay, here's good... Yeah, this'll do nicely..." Seifer mumbled.  
  
"'Do nicely' for what, exactly?" Lulu questioned, obviously annoyed.  
  
"Okay, just watch, and... don't panic..." Seifer warned. Lulu arched an eyebrow and watched, leaning against the cliff, as Seifer stood in the middle of "clearing". He closed his eyes, and twelve Heartless, eyes glowing, antennae wriggling, rose from the ground.  
  
Lulu's eyes widened, and she pushed herself from the cliff, and consecutively pointed at three of the beasts, and with a snap of her fingers they all burst into flame... And remained entirely motionless, all twelve.  
  
The three immolated, and exploded, leaving black clouds, from which glowing, crystalline hearts rose from, and both cloud and heart faded. The Heartless, their number reduced to nine, still all stood still. Seifer opened his eyes and looked around. He grunted in- what sounded to Lulu like- disappointment.  
  
"Hmm... I meant to summon ten..." He mumbled.  
  
"Y-you.... you summoned... those...?" Lulu asked incredulously.  
  
"Mm? Yup. Well... one short's not too bad..."  
  
"Th-then you actually summoned twelve..." Lulu replied, light-headed. Seifer perked up at this.  
  
"Really? Excellent!" A pause. "Well, what did you think?" Seifer asked, obviously pleased with himself.  
  
"Y-you've been doing this all along...? No, that's impossible..."  
  
"You're right, I've had this ability all of about six hours... Well?" Seifer was bubbling with anticipation of what Lulu would think... whatever that may be.  
  
"............ I think... ... You're a monster... A freak, Seifer. You'd do anything to make yourself stronger... Even at the expense of others' safety... and love..." Lulu whispered the last two words, but whispered loud enough for Seifer to hear. Seifer have a sharp twitch and walked over to Lulu, hand raised- but he changed his mind, violently grabbed her jaw, kissed her, and threw her to the ground. Lulu grunted as the wind was taken from her, and she was gasping heavily.  
  
"What do you know, you stupid bitch?" Seifer growled, spittle flying everywhere. Lulu weakly propped herself up on one elbow.  
  
"I know those monsters are responsible for most of the discord in our world. And if you can control them... that makes you more of a demon than they are..."  
  
Seifer grunted and twitched once more, then delivered a sharp kick to Lulu's ribs. He snapped his fingers, and the remaining Heartless all moved menacingly towards Lulu, and Seifer went on his way back to the Bastion.

Aerith awoke on the cathedral floor- she didn't have to open her eyes, for they already were open- but her head lolled to one side to see Cloud throttling someone in black robes. Aerith weakly got to her hands and knees, then to her feet. She shuffled over to Cloud, and yanked him back by his maroon scarf.  
  
The robed victim, a woman, was gasping for air. She used her staff for support as she got to her feet. She stared at Cloud, then to Aerith, then back to Cloud. She growled and faded, just as Cloud had stood up and began to charge at her. As he passed through what used to be the woman, Sorceress Maleficent, he turned to Yuffie, glared, and stomped out of the chapel, leaving Aerith alone.

It was night. Maleficent returned to her airship, which was still on top of the cliff where Gala became her general. She walked into the airship's bridge, and grabbed a large glass bottle- in it was a squirming thing, resembling a serpent.  
  
She trotted back out of her airship, bottle in one hand, staff in other, and walked to the edge of the cliff.  
  
"Fine..." Maleficent grumbled. "If the fools think they can try to cause me pain, let's see how they react when I try to cause them pain..." Maleficent then thrust the jar over the cliff, and into the endless chasm. "Evrae, Guardian Wyrm of Darkness... Free thyself, that thou might instill chaos through this world. Evrae, Guardian Wyrm of Darkness... Bring with thee those whose hearts have been consumed... Evrae, General of Heartless, command thy rightful army to flood this world in everlasting darkness..."  
  
Maleficent didn't bother staying to see if Evrae was worth the munny she spent in Bevelle. Instead, she vanished from the cliff, only to appear at-

Vincent awoke, and sat bolt upright. He Felt it. A storm... Hell's fury was on its way in an almighty torrent, sure to cause Pain- and Vincent would be there, to help, of course.  
  
The Heartless had been in Vincent's home for the past several days, corrupting his mind, and tainting his heart darker than it already was... They used Lucrecia's death, and Sephiroth's abandonment of him to their advantage. Now, he would become the creature of nightmares that nearly destroyed the Behemoth.  
  
They were pleased.A shudder ripped through Cloud's body. Right then he knew that She was angry, and was retaliating with everything she had... Immediately, Cloud dashed to the nearest window, and poked his head out, looking towards the cliffs that were once his home with Dr. Odine.  
  
Dark clouds were on the horizon, approaching swiftly. No... not clouds-"-Heartless," mumbled Squall, "handing Laguna a pair of binoculars.  
  
"How many?" asked Yuffie, her lip quivering in fear.  
  
"All of them," replied Laguna, grimly.  
  
"How many?!" repeated Yuffie, incredulous, snatching the binoculars from Laguna, and looking towards the approaching darkness. "Oh... You mean-"  
  
"All of them," the three said simultaneously. Just then, Cid bounded up the stairs, to the bedroom.  
  
"Hey, I peeked outside. Looks like the Heartless are on their way..."  
  
"Yeah, we know... Y'know... Just looking at them... Cid, how many will your fail- safe save, exactly?" asked Laguna.  
  
"Comfortably? Ahhh... Four. With squeezing and straining and sweat and tears and compacting- around ten," replied Cid, rubbing his neck.  
  
"That's it?" asked Yuffie, crestfallen. "But... Father, and Grandfather, and Aerith..."  
  
"And Matron, and Sid, and.... Sis," added Squall.  
  
"Well... That's... erm, nine. We'll all try to fit," Cid assured. "I'll get it fired up, and out of the basement- but to do that, I might have to destroy this house- that okay, Laguna?"  
  
"S'fine. Nothing here but memories... Memories that I can put behind me once we leave," Laguna approved.  
  
"What about Ansem?" Yuffie queried. "Wasn't it our mission statement to kill him on pain of death?"  
  
"Heh, looks like we're surfacing, then," Squall replied, grinning for the first time since....  
  
"I s'pose it's time for the hermits to finally make their move, eh?" Laguna added devilishly, drawing his pistol.  
  
"Maybe... Just maybe if we do kill him, all this'll go away, and we won't have to leave..." Yuffie said wistfully.  
  
"Ha!" Cid laughed harshly. "Sorry, Yuff, but I don't think that's gonna happen. In a perfect world, yes, but... this is the Hollow Bastion, love. We're standing before the gates of Hell, and they're opening right before our eyes."  
  
"Well, let's get busy. We'll find the people we want to take with us, and-"  
  
"-and what?" growled Yuffie, interrupting Squall. "To hell with the rest?"  
  
"No. We'll come back. In a little while, we'll come back, I promise," vowed Squall. This was the first time since Yuffie had become human again, that Squall looked into her eyes when he spoke to her... "But for now, let's just get who we need to get the-""-hell out of dodge, darling," said Sid Kramer, to his wife, Edea. She sighed in response, but then looked to her husband, and smiled.  
  
"You know we can't, dear... The kids... Everyone else... And besides- where would we go?" Edea replied. Sid smiled back, though it was a sad smile. One of those smiles you smile when you're dying- or about to die. It was one of those smiles, and it told Edea everything. "So... Shall I round up the kids?"  
  
"I s'pose we'd best do that... I love you... Darling," Sid said warmly, kissing his wife. Edea looked at her husband. He had thinning brown hair that, in the back, was slowly vanishing. He was developing a slight case of crow's feet, and he was only slightly portly. He wore a white button-up shirt, and a red sweater-vest, navy blue pants, and brown loafers. His spectacles were spotless, but were giving off a glare. He was getting old. So was she. Being a Sorceress was giving her a prolonged life, while Sid was growing old. He looked to be in his forties. Edea looked like she was in her twenties. But Sid... He was looking old... It didn't matter. She loved him all the same.  
  
"So... The kids?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Sid smiled.  
  
"I'll go get them.... One last time... Just-"_'-one time, this is it, no more,'_ Sephriroth thought to himself. He found working with Seifer to be a grueling experience that should only be reserved for those damned to the deepest circles of Hell... The man never stopped talking!  
  
"And so I left her in the Depths with Heartless attacking her. How 'bout that? I can only tolerate insolence for so long. I mean, what do you think?"  
  
"Hm?" Sephiroth asked, coming out of a mindless trance. "Oh, yes. Very good."  
  
"Ha-ha, yup. Taught the bitch a lesson, I did. I'll tell ya, Hyne bless that woman for these powers... Speaking of the sorceress, where'd she want us to meet her?"  
  
Sephiroth grunted in exasperation. He must have told Seifer this at least seven times before...  
  
"It's just as I told you. She wants us to feel the place... We should be feeling around for a large concentration of Darkness. It should be somewhere near the chapel, and beyond a door. Something called-"The Keyhole. There it was. Beyond a door near the chapel, in a room with a grand staircase, and atop the stairs- a door. Beyond that door was the Heart of this world... and untold knowledge... Maleficent would have that knowledge all to herself.  
  
She gleefully traipsed up the stairs, and stood before the door. She could tell it had already opened- opening the door to the Heart of a World caused its barrier to break. Once the barrier had been broken, travel in and out of the world was possible. And since Maleficent was standing in this world, the barrier no longer existed, and the door had been opened, by that foolish king, she had no doubt.  
  
Maleficent rested her hand on the knob of the gargantuan door, turned, and-  
  
The sheer force the door opening sent Maleficent soaring backward. She was caught by Seifer, whom had just entered the room with Sephiroth. Seifer set her down, but she stood, and looked to the Door.  
  
Black fog was billowing from the door, and rusty bile-colored metal pipes also came from behind the door. The pipes twisted and writhed like serpents, and began wrapping themselves around pillars, and bursting through the walls and ceiling.  
  
"We came as soon as we could, m'lady," said Sephiroth, eyes fixated on the door. 'Untold wisdom lies beyond that door... If it weren't for the Darkness...'  
  
"Excellent, my knights," replied Maleficent, ecstatic at her accomplishment. "Now, go back out, and.... Well... Have fun."  
  
"Yes, m'lady," said Seifer bowing. Maleficent vanished, and the duo left the room to do as they were told.Godo's home was Yuffie, Squall, and Laguna's first stop.  
  
"I figure, if we get into a bit of trouble, Father and Grandfather will help us!" Yuffie proposed. "He's a great ninja, from the Line of Wutai!" Squall and Laguna agreed, both of them eager to find Ellone.  
  
Heartless were everywhere. They littered the walkways, they clouded the skies... But none of them were any match for the trio, made unstoppable by months of training, cut a clear path from Raine's pub to Yuffie's home- a path that was filled back up with the beasts.  
  
When they arrived at Yuffie's home, Yuffie ran to the wooden door, and pounded on it like a maniac. Godo answered the door in full ninja garb, with a collection of throwing daggers adorning his leather belt, and two short swords sheathed at either hip. In his hand was a large four-point shuriken, identical to Yuffie's. Godo's eyes widened in absolute shock, as he'd not seen his daughter in months.  
  
"Y-Yuffie... Do my eyes deceive me...? Is it you...?" Godo asked, reaching out to touch his daughter's cheek. Laguna and Squall were holding the Heartless at bay, whilst Yuffie was reunited with her father.  
  
"Yes, Father, it's me! I'm home!" She paused. "But just for a bit... Grandfather and you, you both must come with me, and Laguna, and Cid, and the others!" Yuffie pleaded urgently. Godo sighed.  
  
"Your Grandfather no longer here, Yuffie. He went look for you and has not returned... And... Laguna? Cid?" Godo looked over his daughter's shoulder, and indeed saw Laguna and Squall fighting the Heartless. It was all too much at once... Godo looked into Yuffie's eyes... Gala's eyes... eyes that twinkled with hope and love. "Hyne... It good to see you again, Daughter..." Godo embraced his daughter, and Yuffie embraced back, tears cascading down the slopes of her cheeks.  
  
"I'm sorry I left, Father... I don't... I don't even remember how or why I left... But... We must leave... Where is Grandfather? We must find him!" As Yuffie broke the embrace with her father, Godo looked at his daughter wistfully.  
  
"Yuffie... Your Grandfather right... you are girl... you look like your mother... I... cannot go with you... And your grandfather not going either... We think he dead... He went look for you long ago... Has not returned... And I... I must stay here and protect people..."  
  
Yuffie's lip quivered as her father spoke. "N-No, Father! NO!" she screamed, sobbing uncontrollably. She wrapped her arms around Godo, who took her by the shoulders, and hunched over to look her in her eyes... Her Grandfather's eyes...  
  
"Yuffie, you must go. Go with Laguna, Cid, Squall. Carry on Line of Wutai," Godo said firmly, the corners of his eyes damp with tears. "Wait here." Godo left the doorway, leaving Yuffie to her sobs. When he came back, he carried with him a yellow scarf. "Yuffie... This scarf belong to your mother. I give it to you now. Let it bind you to family and to honor as ninja. I send you off with your father's love." It was then when Laguna stepped in.  
  
"Godo, this is insanity, you must come with us!" he said urgently.  
  
"No," Godo replied. "Yuffie must carry on ninja line. She the only Kisaragi left."  
  
"Yeah? Well what about Auro-"  
  
"He no longer ninja. He dead to me. He gone... Is samarai... in another world..."  
  
"Father who are you talking about?" Yuffie asked, her cheeks swollen and red.  
  
"Darling, listen. When you go to another world... If you see man with red coat... Tell him about you and your family... He will explain... For now... Yuffie... Be safe. Be happy. And remember: carry on Line of Wutai. Go now. I must slay beasts... Protect castle..."  
  
"Fine, Godo, fine..." Laguna said bitterly. "Do you know where the king is?"  
  
"Don't you know?" Godo asked, dumbstruck.  
  
"Know what...?" Squall answered, popping his head through the doorway.  
  
"King is dead. He missing. Or dead. Or both. Lady came to see me earlier. Said she was 'Sorceress Maleficent'. Said she was new queen. I not believe her. I kick her out of house. But king didn't return. So it must be true..."  
  
"What about Princess Kairi?" Laguna asked.  
  
"She also missing..." Godo replied sorrowfully.  
  
"That bastard," Squall growled. "Bet he killed her... Or worse..." Squall shuddered, thinking of a child Heartless.  
  
"We must leave... Now... Godo? Can you take care of the people? Take them to safety?" Laguna asked.  
  
"Yes. I will kill all beasts that stand in my way," Godo vowed, banging his chest with his fist.  
  
"Good. Squall, Yuffie: we're going to Ellone's. Let's go," Laguna ordered. Laguna and Squall left Godo's house, heading to the Chapel, of which Ellone lived near. Yuffie stayed behind.  
  
"Oh, Father..." Yuffie sobbed, embracing her father once more. "I love you..."  
  
"And I love you... Now... Go Yuffie... Go..." The two hugged tightly, the yellow scarf tight in Yuffie's fist, and then she broke the embrace, running to catch up with Squall and Laguna. Godo watched his daughter leave. He watched as she vanished around a corner, and then he set off to help dampen the state of chaos in the Bastion.Laguna and Squall burst into Ellone's house, followed by a less enthusiastic and weeping Yuffie.  
  
"SIS!" Squall shouted running through the house.  
  
"ELLE?" Laguna yelled, looking around as well. "ELLO-"Laguna froze when he walked into Ellone's bedroom. Ellone was lying on her bed, and a Heartless was lying on top of her. Laguna watched in horror, helpless to do anything, as a glowing crystalline heart rose from a gory hole in Ellone's chest.  
  
Ellone's skin was grey, and her eyes rolled up in her head. She had begun to convulse violently, nearly bucking the Heartless off of her. The Heartless, which looked like the usual kind, a shadow with wriggling antennae and glowing yellow eyes, absorbed the heart, and hopped around, excited.  
  
Upon her heart being absorbed, Ellone looked to Laguna who's eyes were wide as coins, and she smiled.  
  
"White SeeD... I'm coming... Uncle Lagoona..." And her body vanished. Laguna, hyperventilating, looked to the Heartless that murdered his little Elle. He didn't bother with his pistol.  
  
He picked up the Heartless' form- which felt like solidified smoke- grabbed its head with a large hand, and ripped its head off- quite literally. He then threw both the head and body to the floor.  
  
"BRING HER BACK YOU BASTARD!!!" he bellowed at the Heartless' trembling body, which vanished much like Ellone did. "YOU BRING HER BACK TO ME!" He fell to his knees crying, and pounding the hardwood floor where the Heartless had been.  
  
Squall burst in the room to find Laguna, crying. This brought back memories of his early childhood, when Laguna cried daily, lamenting the loss of his wife.  
  
"L-Laguna..." Squall mumbled, his voice cracking. "What's... what's wrong?"  
  
"They got her, Squall... The bastards got her... Elle... She's gone..." Laguna said grimly, tears silent rolling down his cheeks. Squall looked back at Laguna blankly.  
  
"Oh..." Squall shuddered, violently, and did not cry. That would come later... "Sis... I'm sorry, Laguna... I was rotten to her the last time we spoke. And when I last had a chance to speak with her, I ignored her...  
  
"Where did I go wrong, Laguna...? I royally screwed my relationship with Yuffie into the ground... I was distant to everyone growing up... And you were like a father to Ellone and I..." Laguna was silent now. He looked into Squall's eyes... his son's eyes... his son...  
  
"Squall... There's something I have to tell you... Something that I should have told you years ago..."carnage  
  
in my castle  
  
darkness  
  
darkness  
  
so lovelyVincent Valentine was a demon. Bat-like wings had burst from beneath a maroon cape, jutting out between his shoulder blades. Numerous fangs had virtually torn his lips from his face, as they were long and crowded. Horns like that of a ram curled their way out of his skull, amongst his long, greasy black hair. His eyes were completely black, except for his pupil which glowed a faint white, and his skin looked like blackened leather, stretched across his bones.  
  
This was the creature forged from Vincent Valentine's nightmares, hatreds, fears, and failures. Right now, only one failure was in his mind, one hatred keeping his humanity at bay. That failure and hatred, was also the only living thing Vincent loved- his son.Squall blinked, his face blank.  
  
"Laguna... Y-You are my father?" Squall croaked, his voice cracking as he said 'father'.  
  
"Are you sure?" Yuffie asked, confused.  
  
"Positive," Laguna admitted.  
  
"I think I need to sit down..." Squall mumbled faintly.  
  
"You are sitting," Yuffie pointed out, indicating the wooden chair Squall was sitting in.  
  
"Oh... Hyne, are you sure?"  
  
"Positive," Laguna repeated patiently. "Look, I know this is all a lot to take in, but it's the truth. Look, Squall, after your mother, Raine, died, I completely collapsed. A few days after her funeral, I left you and Elle alone in this house, and went to the pub, where we used to live, and I drank... a lot... I passed out for a few days. When I awoke, I was in jail.  
  
"That's when Ansem's sister, Queen Dalaar, ordered that I did not deserve to call myself your father. I agreed completely, and begged her to let you two remain with me, promising that things would get better. They never did.  
  
"In a course of a few years, I got into bar fights, came home drunk every night, and whenever someone even mentioned your mother, I beat them to within an inch of their life, I even lost my position as a Royal Guardian. I was drunk, or in jail, or both, for five years. It was then, when Queen Dalaar ordered you and Elle be placed in the orphanage Edea was starting. I tried to kill her right then. It was about then, when Adel did her thing... And I'm sure you know the rest. The only times I touched alcohol was harmless drinking with Cid." Laguna finished his story, leaving Squall and Yuffie in shock. "Uh-huh..." Squall mumbled, rubbing his chin. "Am I still sitting?" Yuffie nodded, her mouth hanging open, her eyes wide.  
  
"Right, okay, I freaked you out... I always wanted to tell you, but... you know... Court order..."  
  
"It... It's okay... Look, um... I'm sorry..." Squall apologized.  
  
"Sorry? For what?" Laguna asked, furrowing a brow.  
  
"Basically for being an ass to you all my life... I thought you were just an annoying, nosy moron, who should have minded his own business..."  
  
"And now?"  
  
"I think you're an annoying, nosy moron, who had every right to interfere with my life..." Squall replied, grinning. He stood, walked over to his father, and embraced him. Laguna, taken aback, hugged his son for the first time in... Laguna thought it may have been the first time. Yuffie's mouth was still hanging open, and her eyes were still wide.The Darkness continued to flow out of the Keyhole like a black river of smoke. The rusted orange pipes cut through the Darkness, wrapping themselves around pillars, archways, walkways, alleyways, waterways... everything, bursting through ceilings and walls.  
  
Maleficent found it to be very intoxicating. Elated with herself, she continued to explore the castle, seeing what mischief she could cause to further cause this castle's damnation. When she reached Ansem's laboratory, she found many interesting things. A ten-page report, most likely his research on hearts, Heartless, and Darkness, and one other thing... She found a large machine, with a pile of blueprints and schematics on a table next to it.  
  
They were labeled "Heartless Creator". Giddy with excitement, and deeply impressed with King Ansem's work, she found the instructions to the machine, and activated it. Heartless, marked with a crest of a heart with an odd "X" in the middle, rolled out of the machine on a conveyor belt.  
  
Maleficent left the laboratory, confident her work there was done.she activated the machine  
  
the woman is clever  
  
but she also has my report  
  
intolerableLaguna, Squall, and Yuffie left Ellone's house with heavy hearts. Yuffie was scared of never seeing her father again, and Laguna and Squall were deeply saddened by the loss of Ellone, but somewhat happy of Laguna's news.  
  
"When we leave the Hollow Bastion, we're coming back, right?" Squall asked, looking over to Laguna as they ran to Edea and Sid's orphanage, cutting down any Heartless in their path.  
  
"Didn't you promise me, we would, Squall?" Yuffie replied.  
  
"Yeah, but that was to shut you up for the moment," Squall responded mischievously, grinning for the third time that day. Yuffie scowled at him, as she dug one of the points of her shuriken into the head of a Heartless as she ran by.  
  
"I pretended that Heartless was you, by the way, Squall Leonhart," Yuffie chided, giving Squall a raspberry.  
  
"Don't make me separate you two," Laguna warned jokingly, as he shot a Heartless in the hear- chest. "And Squall I'm positive Cid'll find a way to get us back. We're just leaving in case things get real bad."  
  
"You mean we're fleeing like cowards," Squall corrected, slicing a Heartless' head off as they rounded a corner.  
  
"Something like that, yeah," Laguna replied grimly.  
  
After a few minutes of fighting and fleeing, the trio ran into-  
  
"Aerith?!" Yuffie yelled incredulously. Surely enough, ahead was Aerith, pink gown, brown hair and all. A terrified Aerith looked to the trio and became more terrified.  
  
"Oh Hyne, am I going completely insane?!" she screamed, looking up to the high ceiling of the hall.  
  
"No, no, Aerith, it's really us!!!" Yuffie called back. "We've been in hiding, plotting up ways to kill Ansem!" Aerith sat down on the stone floor, and began rocking back and forth. The three caught up with the poor girl, and got her to her feet. She flailed about, but Yuffie took charge, pinning her to the wall.  
  
"Let. Me. Go!" she yelled, trying to break free, but Yuffie was too strong. "Aerith, listen to me!" Yuffie ordered, slamming Aerith against the wall. "We are here!" Yuffie then slapped Aerith across the face, gaining disapproving glances from Squall and Laguna. Yuffie looked over shoulder, tossing a look that said, 'hey, it worked'.  
  
"Yuffie! Yuffie... Wh-wh-what happened?" Aerith stammered.  
  
"We'll explain later. But we're going to the orphanage to get the others, and then we're getting the hell out of this place," Yuffie explained, letting Aerith go.  
  
"Oh... But no! I've got to find Cloud! I have to apologize to him! Hyne... He thinks I hate him, but... I-I think I love him..." By the end, Aerith was more talking to herself than Yuffie.  
  
"Don't worry," Yuffie reassured. "We'll find him. But now, let's just get to the orphanage."  
  
"Right... Okay..." Aerith mumbled. And trio became a quartet, hell-bent on getting to the orphanage.

And thus, they arrived at Edea and Sid's orphanage- where the true battleground was. Rufus Shinra, Fujin, Zack, Edea, and even Sid were fighting a large battalion of Heartless.  
  
Everyone fought for a good while, and when the Heartless were dwindling in numbers, Laguna, and the others found Edea. She stared at them for a moment. A long moment. She then extended an elongated finger, and poked Laguna's shoulder. Laguna arched an eyebrow at her, and Edea breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Oh, thank Hyne, thought I was delirious from the fighting... Where in Hyne's name have all of you been?" she asked, bewildered. Laguna gave her the short version of the past few months. Edea blinked. A lot...  
  
"Honey!" she called over to Sid, who just killed the final Heartless with a large rifle.  
  
"Yes, darling?" he replied, looking over to his wife, smiling brightly.  
  
"Squall, Laguna, Yuffie, and Aerith are standing here, right?" Edea almost pleaded. Sid quirked a bushy eyebrow at the foursome.  
  
"No... No, you're right, they're here..." Sid confirmed. "How...? Why...?" And, again, Laguna told the story to Sid, while everyone else exchanged pleasantries.  
  
"...And we need everyone to come with us," Laguna finished. By then everyone was listening. "IMPOSSIBLE," Fujin said simply.  
  
"Yeah," Rufus agreed, pushing a lock of blond hair out of his eyes. "We're staying to protect the castle."  
  
"To hell if you are!" Sid sputtered.  
  
"I agree," Edea said firmly. "You two go with Laguna and Cid. We'll take care of everything."  
  
"You can't make us," Rufus shot back, without thinking about what Edea was. "Well, maybe you can, but we have to stay here and fight!"  
  
"HONOR," Fujin agreed, nodding.  
  
"Honey... I don't think we can stop them..." Sid said warmly, putting his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"But... They're too young..." she mumbled.  
  
"You were too young when you became a sorceress," Sid shot back.  
  
"That was different... I had a responsibility..." Edea argued.  
  
"As do they. As citizens of the castle, they have a responsibility to uphold it. You can't deny them that..." Sid pointed out. Edea sighed, knowing she was defeated.  
  
"Alright... You're right... Laguna... Just take care of them, alright?" Edea pleaded, staring directly into his eyes.  
  
"Edea... You of all people should know that I'd rather die than let anything happen to them..."  
  
"You're right... And take care of yourself, alright?"  
  
"You know me," Laguna replied, flashing a charming grin.  
  
"Yeah, that's what I mean..." Edea then embraced Laguna, and kissed him once on the cheek, her violet makeup rubbing off.  
  
"Are you sure you're not coming?" he asked one last time.  
  
"Yes. You'd better go; I can see the next wave of Heartless coming." Edea pointed towards the horizon. Where the ocean met the sky, a definitive black band was slowly approaching. Edea, Sid, Rufus, and Fujin exchanged their goodbyes with Squall, Aerith, and Yuffie, each of them oddly impersonal, as if they knew they'd meet again...  
  
When Laguna had left with the others, Edea prepared herself. She and Sid stood at each other's side, facing Edea's once-beautiful ocean view be tainted by the Heartless, who were growing closer by the second.  
  
Edea gripped Sid's hand tighter, and he looked into her eyes... And smiled one of _those_ smiles...

Cloud Strife stood before the demon. He stared in its eyes, and he could see who it was- Vincent Valentine. From his eyes, Cloud simply knew that there was little humanity left in the demon.  
  
"Sephiroth's father!" Cloud called out to the demon. "Let me end your pain!" And the two began.The four were now on their way back to the pub, and Aerith was beginning to grow desperate... she had to find Cloud... She couldn't leave him behind... As the four rounded a corner they found someone blocking their path.  
  
Short blond hair, narrowed eyes, black pants and shirt, long white overcoat... Gloved hand clasped around a gun that was connected to a long blade... It could only be-  
  
"Seifer, what are you doing?" Squall asked aloud. "Are you coming with us?"  
  
"Where are you going?" Seifer asked casually, blade pointed at Squall.  
  
"We're leaving," Laguna replied, his eyes fixed upon Seifer's weapon.  
  
"No. You're not," Seifer said firmly. "The Lion and I have unfinished business. How 'bout it, Squall? One last spar, for old times' sake? You, the coward, and I, the sorceress' knight?"  
  
"Seifer, we're in a hurry. Something's going on, so just get out of our way," Yuffie  
  
"Quiet, Ninja. This is between the Cowardly Lion and myself," Seifer spat, his eyes locking with Squall's.  
  
Squall, who used to be the pacifist, the mediator, the one who fought only when necessary, deemed this occasion "necessary".  
  
"Get back, all of you," Squall ordered, his hand going for the weapon that looked almost identical to Seifer's. "But, Squall-"  
  
"Get. Back. Now." Squall interrupted Laguna, his own gunblade drawn. Yuffie, Laguna, and Aerith all did as they were told, going back to watch the two fight.  
  
"So, the Cowardly Lion steps up. I commend y-"  
  
Seifer was interrupted as Squall lunged forward, slashing fiercely at his opponent.  
  
_ Fithos_  
  
Seifer blocked all of Squall's attempts to gut him, and stumbled backward, as Squall continued his spree of attacks. Beads of sweat rolled down both boys' faces, as blades clashes together, and the smell of gunpowder permeated through the wall-less corridor.  
  
_ Wusec_  
  
"You've improved! Nice job!" Seifer grunted as Squall went in for another barrage of attacks, that were all wonderfully parried by Seifer, who counterattacked with his own string of unsuccessful blows.  
  
_Vecos_  
  
"Seems we're pretty well-matched!" Squall growled.  
  
"Let's see what we can't do about that," Sefer replied, grinning evilly. He held out his hand and conjured four Heartless. They rose up from the ground, and immediately went to work bringing Squall down. They succeeded, and Squall was brought to his knees, and his hands held behind his back. He was helpless. Seifer grinned once more, raised his blade-  
  
_ Vinosec_  
  
-and brought it down upon Squall's face. The sound of ripping flesh resounded throughout the hall without walls, and Yuffie's gasp could be heard from several hundred feet away. Seifer's slash had made a deep gash, from the tip of Squall's left eyebrow, went diagonally over the top of the bride of his nose, and ended just below his right eye.  
  
The gash ushered forth vermillion rivers of blood, and Squall's vision was beginning to be hazed and reddened. He was getting sleepy fast.  
  
_'No... Seifer... Bastard... I'll...'_ With all the strength he could muster, Squall looked to face Seifer, and in a wide arc delivered a deep cut to Seifer. However, this gash was the opposite of Squall's. It started below Seifer's left eye, and went diagonally across the top of his nose, and ended at the tip of his right eyebrow. Seifer stumbled around, gloved hand to his bleeding face. "Y-Y-You stupid... Fool... I'll... I'll kill you..." Seifer growled. The last thing Squall saw before he went unconscious was twin fires igniting in Seifer's eyes, and a dark angel descending upon them both...The vampire-demon had reverted to its human form. It became Vincent Valentine once more. He lied on the stone ground, bleeding from an impressive array of wounds. Cloud stood over him, bloodied and bruised himself.  
  
"Your demon fought well, Vincent Valentine. But it seems I... am the victor," Cloud said standing over Vincent, who was curled in the fetal position  
  
"So... it seems..." As Cloud turned to walk away, Vincent reached out and grabbed Cloud's foot. "Wait." Cloud turned to face his fallen adversary with questioning eyes. He watched as Vincent Valentine removed his leather glove, with bladed fingertips, and his maroon cape. "Take these.... Let him know... Let him know he is no longer my son..."  
  
Cloud accepted the cape and glove graciously. He put on the glove, and wrapped the cape around his neck, the bulk of it flowing down his back.  
  
"I thank you, Vincent Valentine. I leave you to die in peace, now." Then Cloud took his leave, with Vincent bleeding on the stone floor... A Vincent who wasn't ready to die... With his remaining strength, he crawled into a darkened alleyway, as the Darkness from the Keyhole approached...  
  
_'Not yet, Lucrecia... Not yet...'___   
  
It was Lulu. Her black dress was torn, her makeup smeared, her hair mussed, but Lulu all the same. She looked... angry...  
  
"Lulu!" Seifer said cheerfully. "You're here! I knew you'd come! I knew you'd come to see me finish off the bestial Lion!"  
  
"Yes, Seifer... That's why I'm here... Please... Continue..." Lulu growled, her voice trembling. Seifer grinned, and was ready to impale his nemesis when-  
  
_'Mother... Edea... Give me strength...'_  
  
Lulu raised her hand into the air, as blue sparks ran up her arm. As the sparks reached her fingertips, they became icicles, which slowly grew into large blades crafted from ice. Lulu then used that same arm to point at Seifer, and the large ice blades soared at breakneck speed, one missing Seifer completely, the other impaling him through his right shoulder. Seifer immediately froze, his gunblade inches away from Squall's unconscious form. The blade clattered to the stone floor, and Seifer staggered about drunkenly, until he fell to his knees. Lulu turned to face Laguna and the other two.  
  
"Go," she ordered fiercely. "I'll finish up, here."  
  
The three obeyed, and ran past Lulu. Laguna picked up Squall, and they all ran past Seifer, and rounded the next corner, disappearing.  
  
"Lulu... why...? I... I was your knight!" Seifer grunted.  
  
"You summoned the Heartless... You abused me... You are a horrible knight... And... And..."  
  
"No matter... I'll silence you... It is my duty..."  
  
And the two began to fight. They were still fighting as the Darkness from the Keyhole consumed them.The four were dangerously close to the pub... To their escape... It is only natural that disaster should strike. Unbeknownst to the escapees, a familiar friend was waiting in the wings, for an opportunity.  
  
Sephiroth silently descended from the high ceiling of the stone hall. His unusually long sword was pointing downward. If he continued on his course, he would impale a stationary Aerith, who had stopped to stare from where they'd come, hoping that he'd turn the corner and run into her arms.  
  
Sephiroth continued to Descend, going down until-  
  
-his blade tasted flesh and blood. The flesh and blood of one Laguna Loire. He had noticed Sephiroth's descent, set Squall down, and pushed Aerith out of the way. This had not pleased Sephiroth.  
  
He let gravity remove the man from his blade, who fell to the floor, vomiting up a mouthful of blood and bile. He had been impaled through the stomach and liver. Yuffie and Aerith both stared at Laguna and Sephiroth in horror.  
  
"Damn you fool of an old man, why did you have to interfere?" Sephiroth muttered.  
  
"Sephiroth... What... Why...?" Aerith gasped heavily.  
  
"Foolish girl..." Sephiroth snarled, turning to face Aerith. "You and that boy, Cloud... Prophecies state you two are the things that stand in between me and the Promised Land... Paradise..." He spoke in t he melodious voice that had drawn Aerith to him in the first place.  
  
"'In the Hollow Bastion, the One With Silver Hair shall start it all. He is the source of the Heartless. He will plunge the world into darkness,'" came Cloud's voice from the end of the hall, quoting the Tomes of Mava. Sephiroth looked up to face the boy wearing his father's cape and glove.  
  
"Yeah, I read that. Didn't think much of it. Mava was a fool compared to Theon. He had a different view on the One With Silver Hair. 'The One With Silver Hair shall destroy the Demon and the Seraph and then he shall be lead to the Promised Land.' This woman is the Seraph. She's never fought a battle. She knows hardly anything of Darkness. And she's in love with a demon."  
  
"Raine..." Laguna whispered. "I'm coming... Raine..."  
  
"Oh, do shut up!" Sephiroth growled, impaling Laguna once more, and grinding the blade into the ground." Yuffie choked out a sob, and angrily found a shuriken, and threw it at Sephiroth. Not bothering to even turn around, Sephiroth caught the bladed star in mid-air, and threw it to the ground. He then narrowed his eyes at Cloud.  
  
"Is that my father's cape... and glove...?" he asked.  
  
"He's no longer your father, but yes. They are. I took them from his dying body. He wanted you to know he no longer considered you his son." Cloud replied scathingly.  
  
"I see... In any case, have at you, Demon! I'll dispatch of you, then the girl..."  
  
"I'm not a demon..." Cloud said heatedly.  
  
"Oh no? Check and see what's hiding beneath that man's cape. I believe it is the wing of a demon, whereas I have the wing of an angel..." Sephiroth admired his own black, feathered wing. Cloud unleashed his own bat-like wing from beneath the maroon cape. In a split second the two were hovering several feet in the air above Aerith, locked in combat.  
  
Aerith stood, ducking in fear of having her head lopped off. She ran to Yuffie, who was dragging Squall towards the pub- which was in sight.  
  
"Yuffie, you go ahead, I'm going to wait for him..." Aerith commanded.  
  
"Okay, Aerith, be careful. And... I'm sure he'll win," Yuffie replied, pulling Squall behind her.  
  
"Thanks... So am I..." Aerith whispered, turning to watch the battle."CCCIIIIIIIIDDD!!!" Yuffie yelled as she entered the pub. Cid came rushing up from the basement, and his eyes widened at the sight of Squall.  
  
"Dear Hyne, what happened?!"  
  
"Don't worry, he'll be okay. But you should know... Aerith and the new guy, Cloud, are the only ones coming with us..." Yuffie sadly informed.  
  
"Damn, what happened?" Cid asked, scratching his head.  
  
"Everybody's defending the castle. And you should also know that Laguna..."  
  
"What? What about Laguna, where is he?!"  
  
"He won't be joining us either..." Yuffie trailed off. No other words came.  
  
"What... Why?" Cid asked rhetorically. He stared at the floor. He hated the floor. "Alright. Okay. Where are the other two then?"  
  
"On their way..." Yuffie mumbled, tears glistening in her eyes... again...  
  
"Okay. Fine. Follow me to the basement." Cid turned and went down the wooden stairs followed by Yuffie, who was especially careful not to trip and kill both she and Squall. She'd not taken three steps into the basement when Cid ripped a white sheet off of an oblong form to reveal-  
  
-some... odd... boat-thing... with wings... Yuffie didn't know.  
  
"What is it?" she asked blankly.  
  
"I reveal to you The Highwind, my first Gummi Ship. It's composed of the meteors that I picked up after the shower. If my theories prove correct, then this thing should take us to another world.  
  
"I found a book on aeronautics, and built a basic flying machine, so if it doesn't get us out of here, than it sure as hell will take us far from here." Although this was a sad, frightening, frustrating occasion, Cid still showed a spark of pride.  
  
"Fair enough, let's just get out of here... Now..."  
  
"Okay, just hop in one of the seats there, and strap yourself and Squall in," Cid ordered, hopping in the pilot's seat. Yuffie strapped Squall in by means of a leather harness connected to the rather comfortable seat. Yuffie then got in the seat, and threw the harness around herself. "Ready?" Cid asked.  
  
"Yeah. Don't forget about Aerith and Cloud. They're a few hundred feet from the here, in the hall," Yuffie reminded.  
  
"Right, right. Okay..." Cid flipped a number of switches, pushed buttons, and turned dials- the engines ignited. He beamed with pride. He took out a remote and pushed a red button. A wall of the basement exploded outward, leaving a hole large enough for the Gummi Ship to exit the basement.  
  
"Alright... Three... Two... One... Blast off..."The two boys were both short of breath, panting like dogs. Aerith continued to watch, even as a huge cloud of Darkness was slowly coming nearer... When an explosion sounded from the pub, Sephiroth looked at the direction of the noise. Cloud used the distraction to his advantage, delivering a well- placed kick to Sephiroth's face.  
  
A large bird... boat... thing... crafted from a rather rubbery-looking substance approached Cloud and Aerith. Sephiroth, for the moment, was stumbling about, disoriented.  
  
"Aerith, Cloud, come on!" yelled Yuffie over the engine's roar, waving to the couple. The... thing hovered a few feet from the hand-railing of the hall. The Darkness crept closer...  
  
"Aerith, you've gotta go." Cloud said firmly.  
  
"No, not without you!" Aerith shot back, just as firm.  
  
"I've got things to take care of here! And... I'll come back to you... I don't know how, I'll find a way!" Cloud then took her by her bare shoulders, and kissed her passionately.  
  
"You'd better... If you don't... I'll wait for you forever, but if you don't come soon... I'll come looking for you." she said grinning. Cloud smiled a warm smile back. They kissed once more, and Aerith ran to the... bobber, getting in the co-pilot's seat. Cid helped her with the harness, and the two met eyes once more. Aerith's soft blue eyes... Cloud's glowing azure eyes...  
  
And the ship flew upwards, and went through the sky. Cloud sighed sadly. He then looked back to Sephiroth, who was grinning maniacally.  
  
"Come on, Cloud... You and me... Let's go..." Sephiroth, laughing mirthlessly, ran into the Darkness. Cloud gave another sigh, and looked at the sky...  
  
_'Aerith... I'll find you... I'll go through Hell itself to get you back...'_  
  
And Cloud held the hilt of his sword firmly, gathered himself together, and entered oblivion. 


	15. Epilogue: Let Me Be Dormant

Epilogue: Let Me Be Dormant  
  
"I stare at the stars and the sky up above and think what am I made of?...  
I can't say goodbye to yesterday, my friend. I keep holding on 'til the end. Out of the Darkness, there is no other way, than the light leading to  
yesterday."  
-Carla White; "Can't Say Goodbye to Yesterday"  
  
The four of them solemnly arrived in the new world. A glowing neon sign at the city gates read "Traverse Town". A somewhat appropriate title... A man was sitting in a wooden booth. He didn't seem surprised by their arrival.  
  
As Cid approached the booth, he asked in a dull voice, "Name?"  
  
Cid arched a blond eyebrow, wiped non-existent dirt off his nose, and replied glumly, "Cid Highwind." The man recorded Cid's name in a rather thick ledger, and handed him a card.  
  
"Welcome to Traverse Town. You may step through the gates." Same deadpan tone. "Next!" Yuffie approached him. "Name?"  
  
"Yuffie. Yuffie Kisargi," Yuffie answered, a tear glistening in the corner of her eye. The man recorded her name in the ledger, and handed her a card.  
  
"Welcome to Traverse Town. Step through the gates. Next!" Aerith stepped up to the booth. "A whole crowd... Wonderful," the man in the booth muttered sarcastically. "God, I hate my job... Name?"  
  
"Aerith. Aerith... Gast...Strife," Aerith replied, lying about her last name. Squall coughed, but didn't say anything.  
  
"Could you spell that, please?"  
  
"G-A-S-T-R-I-F-E." The man recorded Aerith's name in his book, muttering the last few letters to himself as he wrote. He then handed her a card.  
  
"Welcome to Traverse Town. You may step through the gates... Next!" Squall stepped up to the booth. "Are you the last one?"  
  
"Yeah," Squall choked out. "I'm the last one."  
  
"Thank God," the man said to himself, relieved. "Name?"  
  
"Squa-"Squall paused. Squall, a man helpless to save the world, helpless to save his father and sister... Squall, who fled in the face of danger, and failed to beat Seifer... Squall, who was carried away by women, leaving his father and friends to die... That Squall... He paused. 'I don't want to be him anymore... I need new skin...' "Leon... My name is Leon Loire." The man recorded Squa- Leon's name in the ledger, and handed him a card. On it, were the words "Traverse Town Resident". Leon winced at the word "resident."  
  
"Welcome to Traverse Town. You can step through the gates. And hey... Don't worry about it... Lots of people change their names after... well, you know..."  
  
Leon half-smiled, pocketed the card, and stepped through the large wooden gates, and onto cobblestone. He looked around at his new home. A café was in the upper left corner of the large square, and a small set of steps were next to it. To the right of the stairs was a mailbox, and farther to the right was a set of wooden double-doors, with a sign reading "Third District Under Construction. Do Not Enter" standing before it. Leon walked to the mailbox, catching up with Cid, Yuffie, and Aerith.  
  
"Well..." mumbled Aerith.  
  
"Well... Guess this is home from now on..." Cid announced bitterly.  
  
"Aw, let's look on the bright side!" Yuffie said cheerfully.  
  
"What bright side?" Cid spat.  
  
"I dunno... I was hoping one of you guys would find one... How you holdin' up, Squall?" Yuffie asked. Leon turned his eyes toward the night sky- the perpetual night sky.  
  
"That's Leon, Yuff. My name is Leon," he said, watching as a star as it shone brilliantly, but then faded into nothing.  
  
Rain was drizzling. Falling heavily upon Cloud's unconscious form, slowly waking him. Drops of water cascaded down his face, washing away the blood and mixing with the tears. His eyes fluttered open, and he found himself in an alleyway. Rain went into his eyes, forcing him to shut them tightly again. Eyes still shut, Cloud got to his feet, leaning against the stone wall of a large building.  
  
He opened his eyes, and stumbled out of the alley. Finding himself in a town square, he looked around. Neon lights brightly shot themselves into his eyes, and he shut them again. After a few moments, he opened his eyes yet again, and looked to the nearest building.  
  
It was a tall building, reaching towards the crying clouds. Towards the top of the building were monitors showing... her...  
  
"Aerith..." Cloud mumbled. Looking harder, her image vanished from the screens. Vision moving passed the screens, Cloud looked at the building's pinnacle, and saw a familiar form silhouetted against a flash of lightning. Long hair. Torn clothing. One wing.  
  
"Sephiroth..."  
  
"C'mon, Cloud!" Sephiroth shouted down to him. "Let's finish this!" Cloud growled, and released his own bat-like wing from beneath the maroon cape of Sephiroth's father. He found his sword frozen in his hand. That was all he needed.  
  
Kicking off from the ground, Cloud ascended to the building's peak, to face his nemesis again, picking up from where they left off in another world.  
  
my final report  
  
"When the heart casts off the flesh, where does the body go?  
  
Heart and soul are separate, and the spirit remains in the body. But can we assume that the leftover body and soul perish?  
  
Certainly when the heart changes into a Heartless the body disappears.  
  
However, that is only this world's story; in another world, mightn't they change forms like the Heartless and exist there?  
  
If we take that to be the case, there must be a you other than yourself existing somewhere.  
  
An existence neither of darkness nor of light.  
  
An in-between existence.  
  
Cast off by the heart, a mere shell, one who begrudges both the darkness and the light.  
  
This mystery cannot be easily resolved.  
  
The relationship between the heart and the flesh is a complex one.  
  
But since we exist here, they cannot be termed as existent.  
  
Therefore I shall call them...  
  
'The non-existent ones.'"  
now is the time for me to begin my plan  
  
i will open the door to darkness  
  
beyond it lies paradise  
  
the heart of all worlds  
  
"Kingdom Hearts." 


End file.
